The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference featured information sessions, esteemed expert guest speakers and a chance to converse on and off the record with leaders and influential people from across the province.
Hanging over all of it at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto was the threat of 25 per cent tariffs that U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to impose on Canada.
Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma said Trump’s commentary hovered through the air at ROMA, an event geared towards rural community leaders.
Of primary concern: as many as 500,000 jobs across Ontario could be lost if the tariffs are implemented, impacting manufacturing, particularly the automotive sector, according to Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Sixty-five per cent of the economic base in Stratford is manufacturing, Ritsma said, with about 85 per cent of that in the automotive sector.
“If we see a 25 per cent tariff, then we are looking at probably a loss of 20 per cent of our manufacturing jobs and that bites hard on Stratford.”
Tariffs create a ripple effect, even impacting the City of Stratford’s budget deliberations, according to the mayor, as they need to be prepared for negative economic impacts.
Ritsma said potential job losses are the start of a range of impacts on workers, their families and the overall economy in the city.
“We have to make decisions (at city council) to prepare ourselves…and then if it doesn’t come to fruition, then we can readjust from there.”
Ford noted that Canada has a collaborative economy with the U.S. and they share a great deal economically and culturally.
Added Ritsma: “There is way more benefit working together than working against each other.”
