This week’s letter to Canada is Minnesota Nicer than the last one.
“We want our Canadian neighbors to know they’re not just welcome here — they’re encouraged to visit and continue our long friendship,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in the invitation he extended across the tense northern border.
Relations are frosty — elbows are up — between the United States and Canada right now. Infuriated by new tariffs and a president who threatens to annex Canada as America’s “51st state,” some Canadians are canceling their travel plans.
Over Memorial Day weekend, 30 Canadians participated in Le Grand du Nord, a popular gravel bike race in Grand Marais that usually draws about 50 across the border. And that was before Minnesota’s entire Republican congressional delegation responded to devastating wildfires in Manitoba by complaining about the smoke.
Walz’s invitation tried to focus on the bonds between the two neighbors, rather than recent strains on those ties.
“More than half of Minnesota’s international visitors come from Canada,” said Walz. “We value that connection and the many ways our cultures overlap — from hockey to fishing, and from buffalo plaid to a bold winter spirit.”
In May, the state’s tourism agency, Explore Minnesota, surveyed Canadians coming into the state. They found travelers worried about everything from the weakening of the Canadian dollar to unsubstantiated rumors that Minnesotans might vandalize vehicles with Canadian plates. Explore Minnesota expects a 13% decline in international travel to the state this year.
Even a small decline in visits from Canada would hit hard in places like northern Minnesota’s Cook County, where 80% of the economy is dependent on tourism.
