Mills reaffirms commitment to foreign trade partners amid tariff uncertainty
Jun. 9—Gov. Janet Mills reaffirmed Maine's commitment to its northern and European neighbors and to preserving the Arctic landscape in the face of climate change at an annual breakfast with business and trade leaders.
Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at the Governor's International Breakfast on Monday, Mills emphasized the interconnectedness of trade and the environment, and she championed the importance of understanding and minimizing the worst effects of climate change.
The theme of Monday's breakfast was "Maine: Gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic." Speakers, including representatives of shipping logistics company Eimskip and the Maine International Trade Center, discussed Maine's role as a shipping and marine industry hub.
Mills said the actions of other nations working in the Arctic, including Canada and Maine's European trading partners, directly impact "our little state."
"And the actions of our little state affect the Arctic," she said.
Mills paid particular attention to Maine and Canada's "historic friendship and deeply intertwined economies," noting that the state took in billions of dollars' worth of goods last year, including high quantities of fuel and heating oil that rural Mainers rely on.
She highlighted a recent campaign to install signage welcoming Canadians at each of Maine's 13 border crossings. Canadian tourism is anticipated to drop by about a quarter this summer, as Canadians feel increasingly hesitant to visit in light of President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to make their country the 51st state.
"While we can't fix this economic uncertainty coming from the nation's capital," Maine can show Canadians tourists that they are welcome, Mills said. "It's the least we can do."
Mills followed remarks by Bernadette Jordan, consul general of Canada in Boston, who thanked the governor for her "steadfast friendship."
The Arctic, including Canada's Arctic Archipelago, has been warming four times faster than the rest of the world, Jordan said. Meanwhile, the country's northwest passage could become the most efficient shipping route between Europe and East Asia, which would lead to increased international traffic, she said.
"The threats to our sovereignty are real when it comes to the North," she said, adding that Canada is pursuing intelligence-sharing agreements with other nations that include or do business in arctic territories.
At one point, Mills directed her remarks to a table of visiting students from Edward Little High School in Auburn, urging them to ask questions of their elected officials and to avoid isolationism when they grow old enough to vote. She said Maine has learned improved forest production and fishery techniques from officials and tradespeople in Finland and Iceland, citing these as examples of cross-cultural knowledge sharing that drives innovation at home.
Mills will join a handful of northeastern governors and a half-dozen Canadian premiers in Boston next week to discuss the impacts of tariffs and develop plans for ensuring cross-border trade continues.
Copy the Story Link
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
35 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
At Globe tech summit, Healey criticizes Trump on LA protests, says she's open to evaluating millionaire's tax
Sending troops in without the support of state and local leaders , she added, had only 'inflamed tensions' and made the situation 'really dangerous for the public and ... for law enforcement.' Advertisement Healey's criticism Tuesday extended to Trump's other policies: She reiterated the impact of Trump's cuts to research funding, and threats to the legal status of international students, which have harmed the life science and higher education industries. 'We're seeing an outright assault on our economic infrastructure, and not only is that bad for Massachusetts, it's bad for America,' Healey said, calling it 'cruel' for the administration cut funding from life-saving research. The state, she said, is looking for 'ways for government to work with the business industry and team up and weather the storm.' Advertisement At one point, Healey indicated she could be open to undoing the so-called millionaire's tax, which placed an additional tax on earnings over $1 million after Massachusetts residents approved a constitutional amendment to do so two years ago. That change has since generated billions of dollars for education and transportation-related initiatives Healey said she supports, such as making community college tuition-free for Massachusetts residents. That tax has also drawn backlash, however, from some in the business community who lament the tax has driven wealthy residents from Massachusetts. While there is currently not a concerted effort to undo that tax, Healey said Massachusetts should re-examine 'what we need to do within our existing tax regime' to attract people to the state. Asked whether she would oppose efforts to overturn the tax, Healey demurred: 'No, I think we need to evaluate what's going on, and I want to see the numbers. I just want to see what's happening in terms of any potential outmigration.' Healey next week will host governors from New York, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont as well as several premiers from Canada in an effort to 'show that the US-Canadian relationship remains' as Trump has imposed tariffs on the country's northern neighbor. That area, Healey added, is another in which Trump is 'self-sabotaging the United States.' Anjali Huynh can be reached at
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Minister flags concern over BC Ferries' construction deal with Chinese shipyard
British Columbia's transport minister says he has raised concerns with BC Ferries about its decision to have a Chinese shipyard build four new ferries for its passenger fleet, amid an ongoing trade conflict between Canada and China. Mike Farnworth says he's worried about procuring services from 'any country that is actively harming Canada's economy' with tariffs and protectionism. Farnworth's remarks come hours after the announcement by BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez that China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards had won the contract. Jimenez said he wasn't worried about geopolitical tensions between Canada and China, adding his primary focus was getting the province a good deal. Farnworth says in a statement that BC Ferries is an independent company, but he's disappointed 'more involvement from Canadian shipyards' wasn't part of the contract. The first vessel is expected to come into service in 2029 with the others following in six-month intervals. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Who's responsible for online harms? Responsibility for troubled file floats between ministers
OTTAWA — As ministers settle into their new roles, discussions are underway about who is best suited to steer the government's efforts to legislate against online harms, cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault said on Tuesday. Questions have arisen about which minister and department would be best suited to handle the complicated issue after the Liberals' proposed Online Harms Act died in Parliament when Prime Minister Mark Carney triggered a federal election in March. 'It's a good question,' said Guilbeault, who oversees the Canadian Heritage department, told reporters on his way into the Liberals' weekly cabinet meeting. 'We're having conversations to see what would be the most appropriate department to bring this forward.' Canadian Heritage had been the first department to develop and later introduce the Liberals' initial plan to combat the harms Canadian users experience online. That proposal, which was released in 2021, was met with widespread backlash over concerns about the requirement for social media companies to remove content within 24 hours after receiving a complaint. Experts had warned the provision was overly broad and risked infringing on free expression, given that companies could remove legal content. The Liberals then struck an advisory group and got to work on figuring out a Plan B. Responsibility for the bill also shifted from Canadian Heritage to the Justice Department. In early 2024, former justice minister Arif Vriani introduced Bill C-63, which proposed to create a new digital safety regulator that would be tasked with ensuring social media giants took steps to reduce users' access to content, such as child sex abuse images and incite extremism and violence. That bill was also met with backlash over its proposal to introduce stiffer sentences for hate-related offences and reintroduce a controversial section to the Canadian Human Rights Act to allow people to bring forward complaints of hate speech, which civil liberties advocates and Parliamentarians said risked violating free speech. Virani spent months defending the need for the tougher Criminal Code measures to be included in the online safety bill, but last December announced the government was prepared to split the bill to help get it passed. In January, former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation and that Parliament would be suspended until March. Emily Laidlaw, a Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary, who sat on the government's expert advisory group, said it was a mistake for the government to have combined different provisions into the same legislation and that by the time it announced the legislation would be split, 'it was too late.' 'What I'm hoping is, when they reintroduce it, they have very firmly the platform regulation law,' she says. Should the Liberals want to propose changes to the Criminal Code or the Canadian Human Rights Act, that should be separate, she said. Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters on Tuesday that the government was going to look at different measures when it comes to protecting children online, but would have more to say in the months ahead. One new factor in how the Liberals may decide to proceed is the fact that Carney named to his cabinet the country's first minister responsible for artificial intelligence and digital innovation, a position currently held by former broadcaster Evan Solomon, who was elected in late April's general election. The Liberals in their last bill listed AI-generated sexualized 'deepfakes' as one of the harms companies would have to take steps to tackle. Asked whether online harms would fall under his mandate, Solomon told reporters on Tuesday that it was 'up for debate.' 'But probably yeah.' Laidlaw said while she does not believe the government needs to start a new round of consultations, it ought to take a second look at the scope of harms it is seeking to tackle. For example, she suggested there was room to include the issue of identity fraud. 'I actually think it should be broadened to include some of the ways that AI can be used to facilitate harm, so it might not just be the typical social media on Instagram.' National Post staylor@ Hate crime laws to be split from Liberals' online harms bill after blowback PBO: Creating proposed online harms regulators estimated to cost $200M Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
