CBC | Top Stories News
· collected 2026-09-05 · by Benjamin Lopez Steven
As Canada-U.S. relations sour, border towns of upstate New York fear damage will be permanent
Officials, residents worry over fallout of trade war and Lake Ontario spat as Canadian traffic plummets
At his marina in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Alex Morgia looks toward the water and paints a vivid picture of the beauty he often sees, even on an overcast day.
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he → sour → day
"Sometimes those are the best sunsets because the sun will peek through underneath and then you get all of the cascading colours on the underside of the clouds," Morgia says, looking out over what has recently become North America's most controversial lake.
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what → peek → clouds
"We get sunsets over the lake year-round," Morgia says, before clarifying: "Over Lake Ontario, not to be vague."
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Morgia → get → Ontario
Sackets Harbor, located on the lake's eastern shore around a 40-minute drive from the Canadian border, finds itself caught up in a war of words and wares, as the United States and Canada feud over tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America."
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States → locate → Ontario
The harbour, Morgia points out, was even mentioned in Trump's executive order.
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Morgia → point → order
It's not the first time the quaint village has been at the front lines of a fight between these two nations: Sackets Harbor was the site of two major battles during the War of 1812, Morgia says.
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Morgia → say → 1812
"People find cannonballs in their yard all the time," he said.
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he → find → yard
"People use them as doorstops.
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People → use → doorstops
While Morgia downplayed how much support Trump has for renaming the lake, he — along with other U.S. residents and officials living near the border in upstate New York — is concerned this heightened fight could spell the end of close Canadian ties, to the detriment of their communities.
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fight → downplay → communities
"We had a brief period of time where I thought he was distracted with other problems and was going to leave the Canadians alone and we could be friends again.
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we → have → Canadians
Obviously, that ship has sailed," Morgia said.
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Morgia → sail → ?
'It hits in the heart'
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It → hit → heart
About a half-hour drive north of Sackets Harbor, on the U.S. side of the Thousand Islands Bridge over the St. Lawrence River, Corey Fram is fretting that the already difficult situation he faces is about to get much worse.
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he → fret → River
But after Trump got elected for a second time, there was a substantial decline in Canadian spending and border crossing, he said.
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he → elect → spending
"It hurts to lose that economic impact of Canadian visitors on the New York side.
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It → hurt → side
But in a border community, it hits in the heart," Fram added.
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Fram → hit → heart
While he understands there may be a strategy Washington and Ottawa are each pursuing that buoys their countries' economic standpoints, those efforts have the opposite effect on border communities, he said.
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he → understand → communities
"There's almost a sense that those of us along the border are having to pay the price for what is a supposed economic benefit for the greater good of each of the respective countries," Fram said.
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Fram → be → countries
Anthony Adamczyk is facing the same issue in Ogdensburg, N.Y., about 45-minute drive northeast.
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Adamczyk → face → Ogdensburg
He's the executive director of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority, which owns and manages the local bridge spanning the St. Lawrence.
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which → own → Lawrence
Despite a slight uptick in border crossings from Canada in January 2025 compared to the previous year, they declined the following month and have never recovered, Adamczyk said.
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Adamczyk → compare → year
Overall, traffic volume decreased 23 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, equating to about 136,000 vehicles.
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volume → decrease → vehicles
The bridge's toll revenue went down 35 per cent, representing about $536,000 in lost revenue.
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revenue → go → revenue
Fram's longer-term concern is that the number of Canadian tourists will permanently remain lower.
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number → remain → tourists
He told CBC's The House that each time a major crisis affects border crossings — like the COVID-19 pandemic or the 9/11 terrorist attacks — the numbers fall and never return.
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numbers → tell → pandemic
"My concern is this is yet another step, a big jump down that we're not going to get back to where we were in 2024 anytime soon, and maybe not ever."
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we → go → 2024
Residents divided over Trump's tactics
The ongoing fight over tariffs and Lake Ontario's name puts residents of Ogdensburg and Sackets Harbor in a complicated position.
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fight → divide → position
The two areas fall within St. Lawrence County and Jefferson County, respectively — both of which Trump has won by more than 10 points in previous presidential elections.
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Trump → fall → elections
Outside a Walmart in Ogdensburg, Greg Barr told The House he visits Canada all the time and has never had any issues with Canadians.
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he → tell → Canadians
But when asked about the trade war, he said he thinks the U.S. has been "way too generous.
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U.S. → ask → war
"Not [just] to Canada but to other countries," Barr said.
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Barr → say → countries
"[Trump's] getting things more even, to me.
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things → get → me
Maybe he has a different way of doing it, but he does get results."
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he → have → results
Jim Rupert, who runs a taxi service that takes clients back and forth from Canada all the time, echoed Barr's view that Trump's tactics are a means of equalizing the playing field.
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tactics → run → field
"I hate to listen to [Trump] half the time because he rambles, he rants, he does this and that, but the policies are solid.
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policies → hate → this
But Carol and Gary Davis, who say they've noticed how much more their groceries cost nowadays, say they can't make sense of Trump's actions.
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they → say → actions
"When he got elected, gas was going to be cheap, food was going to be cheap," Gary said.
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Gary → elect → ?
Carol, who voted for Trump in the last election, said she's disappointed with the president — though she felt there weren't better options when she cast her ballot.
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she → vote → ballot
"So, yeah, I guess I do have regrets now."
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I → guess → regrets
Local Republican lawmaker weighs in
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lawmaker → weigh → ?
…and 15 more, not listed.
