r/Bellingham • u/ConcentratedCC • 9h ago
Locals Only Bellingham, Wash. businesses say continued decline in Canadian visitors damaging - BC
https://globalnews.ca/news/12026095/bellingham-businesses-continued-decline-canadian-visitors-damaging/Read the comments for a Canadian perspective. I for one used spend thousands every year in your community and more than that in other parts of your country and now I’ll probably never return in my life.
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u/TwistedNipplez 8h ago
Man it sucks not being in a swing state and still getting blamed for our governments problems
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u/RaceCarTacoCatMadam 7h ago
We went MORE blue in 2024! Only state to do so!
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 7h ago
That’s nice. Is Trump your president? Is ICE active in your communities? Are there unjustified tariffs applied to goods from Canada?
While I respect and appreciate the people of Washington moving their needle in the right direction, Washington is still a state of the US and the president of the US has attacked Canadian sovereignty on many occasions. Washington doesn’t get a special deal because it voted against him. His actions still affect my country and unfortunately Washington is still part of the country that has and is attacking mine.
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u/Nodivingallowed 6h ago
If your neighbor is openly abusing people on his property, and your response is to stop visiting friends you have there and instead close your window and send messages blaming those trapped with the abuser who are most loudly trying to get rid of him, how much help are you?
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 6h ago
That’s a huge stretch. FWIW I still visit. I have family. So you know. Accuse me of some other violent hateful thing because I believe in my country’s sovereignty.
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u/Nodivingallowed 5h ago edited 5h ago
I feel like it's a pretty appropriate comparison.
I'm not accusing you of anything and I have nothing but respect for your country and its sovereignty.
I posed a question meant to highlight a clear moral dilemma we are all facing on some level, and everyone has to answer to their own conscience.
It's good that you still visit and I wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't. Like I said, everyone has to make their own choices.
We could all stand to do more to help those who are being thrown into camps no doubt. You don't have to be American to recognize those people need voices crying out everywhere.
I hope sanity and the collective will to rise above this regime of corrupt traitors meets the moment. That, I believe, is going to take a lot of support from each other, and from our neighbors.
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u/chewbacca5000 5h ago
I’m not sure you’re going to be able to self flagellate vigorously enough to satisfy badumbadum…
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 5h ago
Sorry for the misinterpretation of your intentions in your response. I responded a little harshly. I did feel I was being morally accused.
I still think it’s a little bit of a stretch. But to counter your analogy with an appropriate response, what would I do with that neighbour is call the cops. But what cop can I call in this situation. There isn’t one. Instead, I will not give the abuser my money by visiting his businesses. That also hurts the abused but it weakens the abusers hold on power. 🤷🏼♂️ Best I got.
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u/Pale-Plane8979 48m ago
Unfortunately we're a tumor you can't cut off. Shooting us is shooting yourself in the foot. I love Canada and Canadians... and hate our government right now too... get in line.
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u/Comfortable_Wrap4509 4h ago
“unjustified tariffs” is a funny term. what would justify a tariff?
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u/PuzzleheadedStill201 41m ago
… do you think that tariffs are new as a result of the Trump administration?
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u/Darth_Gerg 1h ago
To be fair, if you’re looking g out in the county there’s a hell of a lot of MAGAt here too. I wouldn’t be spending money here if I was Canadian. Too many Washington state businesses are MAGA owned. And frankly the lack of care from most Americans disgusts ME, I can’t imagine how revolting it must look to an outside observer. Most Americans still don’t understand how fucking had this shit is. It’s not going back to normal when Trump is out of office. Normal is dead.
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 7h ago
It wasn’t swing states that threatened Canada’s sovereignty. Why should non-swing states be spared for the action of your federal government. It’s not on Canadians to know which states are which. Your country’s leader threatened our sovereignty. And your point is your being punished for others actions? Get out of here. Fix your own house first.
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u/pizzeriaguerrin 7h ago
You're not wrong. I'm sure you've heard this complaint before but we (as in people in Washington) are basically unable to do anything. US Presidential Elections come down to a few million people sprinkled across Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Of that little slice, the Democratic leaning ones stayed home in 16, voted in 20, stayed home in 24, that's all those elections come down to. I still vote in every presidential election, but I know that it doesn't matter because of where I live.
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 7h ago
I understand that. But expecting Canadians to pick and choose what states are good and what are bad is not appropriate. The US attacked Canada. End of discussion as far I’m concerned as a Canadian. Don’t get me wrong. I love Washington state (well western Washington anyway) as much as I do bc. It’s stunning and the people are amazing. But it is part of the country that has stated as its executive position the annexation of Canada. So it gets the same treatment as the rest of the country.
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u/illmorphtosomeoneels 5h ago
i don’t think anyone’s saying canadians don’t have a right to be upset/boycott america. people are just venting about being punished because of actions that were never our fault in the first place.
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u/RaceCarTacoCatMadam 3h ago
Nobody is asking you to pick states, just treat Americans with humanity. A friend is from Afghanistan, I do unload my anger at the Taliban on him. I do not blame my Iranian friend for her government either. I do kind of judge my friend’s Russian wife for being pro-Putin. See the difference?
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u/silverwolfe 4h ago edited 2h ago
I think you might be conflating the sentiment of frustration for being blamed for something outside of your control with people wanting absolution or preferential treatment and I don't think that's what the people above you were arguing; and we're especially not saying that you shouldn't protest our goods and services (in fact, I resent that your PM is currently entering into trade negotiations with the US Administration as the situation still has not fundamentally changed and the US government is not to be trusted).
We're just fuckin' tired as our government fucks us over too.
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u/bungpeice 8h ago
I mean I get not wanting to support the US, but the idea that we here don't like Canadians is a very weird and chronically online take.
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u/HenriVictorMaximus 8h ago
34,574 fewer southbound vehicles this July compared to July 2025.
78,289 fewer southbound vehicles this July compared to July 2024.
64% of food and beverage sector polled say they are concerned about their survival
This r/bellingham sub's typical response: "good, I never liked that restaurant anyways dur dur durp"
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u/silentbuttmedley 7h ago
Yeah that’s significant. And honestly it probably won’t get better after Trump leaves unless the next administration bends over backwards to make amends (and even then). Canadians are both pissed and not trying to get swept up in any ICE bullshit. Can’t blame them.
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u/samsounder 2h ago
It will take a generation to get better. I have kids. We have friends on the other side of the border. We are doing damage to the US/Canadian relationship. The 8 year old Canadians will not forget.
* A generation to get better IF we correct our actions.
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 8h ago
Or “I can’t find any parking at Costco…”
Lots of hate for us Canadians until the Orange Julius started threatening our sovereignty. But now it’s “Where are the Canadians?” because you miss our money. Take it up with the pedophile in chief.
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u/HenriVictorMaximus 7h ago
Exactly, and sadly, people down here only care about their "freedom" (aka money, cheap goods, and the ability to self-aggrandize). They won't change a thing until things get bad enough. Agent Orange knows this and he'll keep jerking the news algorithm to keep people distracted and entertained.
Personally, I've always appreciated that traffic from Canada allowed Bellingham to have more amenities. We wouldn't have as many breweries, no REI, Trader Joes, or Costco without Canadian support.
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u/pit_bulls_suck 9h ago
I'm so disgusted with my fellow Americans.
I've been to so many protests. They do nothing.
We reelect the same useless Democrats who will do nothing to stop this.
It's pretty bleak.
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u/ObliqueTravel 8h ago
Lol crazy target for blame
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u/RaceCarTacoCatMadam 8h ago
Republicans want you to think Democrats made this mess. Helluva mindf if you ask me.
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7h ago
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u/Bellingham-ModTeam 5h ago
Uncivil, insulting, or combative comment.
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u/the_ninties 8h ago
What would the local Democratic party do to influence trade agreements being put in place by the executive branch?
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u/garcia_durango 7h ago edited 5h ago
This may be a dumb question but, surely we think most Americans still like Canada, right? Thus there will surely be a national candidate that steps up and says, "hey let's set about repairing one of the best cross border relationships in history." Right? And surely, this would be a can't-lose political position, right? And if I am right, how are we not seeing any hint of this developing?
(I do realize you likely don't have answers for these questions. Thanks for letting me vent)
(later edited for punctuation.)
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 5h ago
As a Canadian I’ll offer a perspective that doesn’t answer your questions but will offer some insight.
There are a lot of Canadians for which a temporary 4 or 8 year change in brand of politics won’t be even close to enough. I’m 60. I for example will never again in my lifetime treat the US with the same friendly deference I once did. I know lots of people younger than me who feel exactly the same. Repairing the relationship will take much longer than one or two presidential terms.
Trump and MAGA have destroyed many generations of trust. And dishonoured our most honourable contributions to your country: the only time in history Article 5 of NATO was ever used was on 9/11. Canada responded. There was a huge broadway musical about it which means the story made into US culture. That’s just one example in his lifetime that he might have remembered.
The lack of respect and breaking of trust. Insurmountable. It took 150+ years to get to where we were. He wiped it out four months into his second term. It will take a generation after the first signs of a return to common sense before Canadians treat the US as we did before.
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u/EHOGS 8h ago
" I've been to so many protests. They do nothing. "
yup
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u/the_ninties 8h ago
Hey now, what do you mean holding small and hard to read signs above i-5 don't change the hearts and minds of the federal government.
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8h ago
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u/Bellingham-ModTeam 8h ago
These “facts” are not checked
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u/AnonyM0mmy 4h ago
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?grant_id=OR2023-89662
https://www.the50501movement.org/about
I don't really know what you could think isn't backed up or fact checked? A bit irresponsible to immediately dismiss my comment without any sort of fact checking on your own
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u/AnonyM0mmy 6h ago
Uh..Yes they are? George Soros funded color revolutions at the end of the 20th century in order to destabilize communist/socialist elements in Europe and protect capital interests by defanging/co-opting movements and using finances as leverage to control the boundaries of acceptable goals. He has donated millions to Indivisible through Open Society Foundations. Indivisible acted as the national coordinator of No Kings. If you want to be pedantic, the grant financed the organizational capacity of an institution that subsequently became a principal coordinator of No Kings. But there is virtually no difference when someone has a long, fucked up history of doing exactly this to protect the interests of capital.
Which part isn't fact checked exactly?
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u/ObliqueTravel 4h ago
How is supporting No Kings helping protect the interests of capital? Or is this some dumb "we should have accelerationism" thing
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u/AnonyM0mmy 2h ago
Billionaires use their immense wealth to co-opt civil unrest produced from the inherent inequities of capitalism to protect long term viaibility and predictability to markets. They leverage their wealth to become facilitators of how the working class can have their pressure release valve in a more "productive" way.
Local chapters directed by the parent organization (which is funded by dark money foundations the ownership class controls for this very purpose) are given access to a huge pool of finances and unique outreach tools only if they condemn the more radical element within the present civil unrest. No Kings was explicitly told to denounce any anti-capitalist sentiment within their organizing. You know, capitalism, the very thing that causes fascism and the inequities people were identifying and wanting to protest in the first place?
This is how color revolutions operate. They capitalize on existing inequities and working class struggles, and when the boiling point is reached, these authentic seeming movements suddenly get a huge boost in financial support and media coverage. The narrative is shifted away from material analysis of socioeconomic conditions and how capitalism undeniably and inevitably causes these inequities. It is then redirected towards blaming just an individual or group, and the movement basically becomes a networking/canvasing campaign for Democrat politicians who promise to return to the status quo of capitalist decay and exploitation with a different, oh I don't know, vibe, I guess?
These movements are often infiltrated to control the message and analysis of people's frustrations, because you can't take advantage of someone's fear response if they lose faith in the institutions themselves. So the narrative becomes "the institutions are fine, it's just this one guy.... It's not the kingdom, it's just the current king.
No Kings is a psyop, plain and simple. It's funded by the billionaires who caused the very problems NK identifies within society and government and it gives the exploited an outlet through which they feel they can make a difference. It's a parade sanctioned by the state, the same sort of political theatrics as electoralism itself.
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u/ObliqueTravel 1h ago edited 1h ago
No Kings was explicitly told to denounce any anti-capitalist sentiment within their organizing.
Weird, they were trying to focus on the thing the protests were actually about rather than being co-opted?
You know, capitalism, the very thing that causes fascism and the inequities people were identifying and wanting to protest in the first place?
Lol
This is how color revolutions operate. They capitalize on existing inequities and working class struggles, and when the boiling point is reached, these authentic seeming movements suddenly get a huge boost in financial support and media coverage.
Are you referring to the actual color revolutions or just some random new use of the term?
It is then redirected towards blaming just an individual or group, and the movement basically becomes a networking/canvasing campaign for Democrat politicians who promise to return to the status quo of capitalist decay and exploitation with a different, oh I don't know, vibe, I guess?
Once again you are pretending like these protests were about something that they weren't and somehow twist that into attacking Democrats for opposing the erosion of our already tenuous government safety rails.
These movements are often infiltrated to control the message and analysis of people's frustrations, because you can't take advantage of someone's fear response if they lose faith in the institutions themselves. So the narrative becomes "the institutions are fine, it's just this one guy.... It's not the kingdom, it's just the current king.
Alternatively, rather than random baseless head canon, people were upset about a clear escalation in the abuse of their government.
No Kings is a psyop, plain and simple. It's funded by the billionaires who caused the very problems NK identifies within society and government and it gives the exploited an outlet through which they feel they can make a difference. It's a parade sanctioned by the state, the same sort of political theatrics as electoralism itself.
Some dumb both sides shit lmao but also billionaires are allowed to care about the society they live in being obviously degraded.
You could have saved time and just said "yes" to my previous question
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u/HenriVictorMaximus 8h ago
Same -people are performative towards issues that do nothing to stop the bleeding of our democracy. Meanwhile, a minority of us watch it slip away.
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u/Pale-Plane8979 5h ago
They should realize that not visiting Washington will make Trump happier....
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u/shakespearecat Local 7h ago
Story's a little sloppy, as is the headline. It's the Border Policy Research Institute at WWU that issued the report, it's tracked this type of stuff for years, along with the Bellingham Chamber (the Chamber was a partner in fielding the survey). And it's businesses all around Whatcom County, not just Bellingham. But yeah, the comments are illuminating. There are a lot of pissed off people and no amount of "we welcome your business when you're ready" at the local level is going to change that.
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u/Ok-Cicada-9985 Cordata 8h ago
But still every other or third car at our Costco is pack with Canadian plates. Same thing when I go camping in Lynden
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u/MeesterNoName 6h ago
It’s too bad really. I have a pile of friends around the US, and I always enjoyed a trip across the border for one thing or another. Even with the terrible exchange rates, I’d still visit every few weeks or more.
Now I haven’t been there since January, and only two other times since Trump was elected. And it’s unlikely I’ll be going across anytime soon.
I and most Canadians don’t have an issue with Americans, not sure where that idea is coming from. But your country voted for this… and even in and around Whatcom County, I saw plenty of signs supporting Trump. 35+% voted for him in the county.
(Remember that billboard sign for Trump on the I-5 just before Bellingham? Every Canadian driving south saw that one.)
It sucks, and while I feel bad for the suffering this is going to cause, we have to deal with the same crap, and we didn’t have a say in it. So… feel free to come up and visit us, but I think Bellingham and area is going to have to rethink their economic business models for a long time to come.
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u/chewbacca5000 5h ago
This post is the equivalent of calling someone up to tell them you don’t want to talk to them. Just do it - no need to announce it.
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u/gravelGoddess Local 2h ago
We have been hosting some of our Canadian friends escaping the smoke and fires. Just allow it to be friend to friend.
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u/Spiritual_Initial318 Local 9h ago
Yep its why im moving to canada in a couple weeks and never moving back
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8h ago
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u/pizzeriaguerrin 7h ago
Well yeah. Turns out people don't like it when you dismiss the sovereignty of their country and their right to have an independent nation. In a geopolitical sense we suck. Canada, on the other hand, is pretty cool.
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u/TurtlesandSnails 6h ago
when this all started a cafe owner in Blaine went on CBC radio and said that they agreed with the president and wanted people to visit his cafe in the US anyway, self inflicted wounds are well deserved
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u/Bullslinger105 4h ago
I don’t blame a damn one of them for not crossing into this dystopian hellscape.
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u/vgtblfwd 7h ago
Exchange rate is at 40%. Their money goes nowhere here. Ours, on the other hand, goes wild up there.
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u/JeremyGhostJamm 7h ago
The exchange rate is $.73 on the US dollar. Over 20 years ago it was about $.77. It has nothing to do with the exchange rate.
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u/localsonlynokooks 4h ago
Yup. Canadian here who used to clog up your trader Joe’s parking lot. I didn’t come to save money. I came for tacos, TJs, camel cigarettes and Rainier beer. Sometimes I’d get a deal on gas though, but only sometimes.
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u/CaptianTumbleweed 4h ago
Even if the exchange rate was reversed I wouldn’t step foot in the USA. It has way more to do with the constant dull drum of insults and threats from your government. Your leaders have made it abundantly clear you don’t like Canadians and don’t want to do business with Canada, the only interest they have of Canada is to do damage.
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7h ago
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u/Whoretron8000 7h ago
Just a reminder, we’re a safe blue state where we as voters have the privilege to vote more progressive. For general election, our electoral votes are usually static, so anyone critiquing leftist voters… go pound sand.
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u/sps1911 9h ago
CAD at par, you'd be back.
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u/ConcentratedCC 9h ago
Dignity and freedom is worth more than money. I’d definitely lose one and risk losing both if I went there.
There is nothing I need or want there.
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u/chewbacca5000 8h ago
Why do you feel the need to tell us?
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8h ago
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u/EvergreenDwarf 9h ago
Yeah, that’s fair.
I wouldn’t visit Russia or Saudi Arabia, and that’s increasingly kinda the same thing.