Yes, Massena’s Hurting — But Don’t Look at Us
On June 9th at Cornwall council meeting, the mayor of Massena, New York, Greg Paquin, spoke up and made a public plea. Essentially, he asked us, our city, to help bring things back to normal at the border. In his plea, he said: “It’s troubling that we aren’t seeing (our neighbours) as much as we have before,” acknowledging that border traffic into Massena is down. Paquin thinks this decrease runs both ways, but I fail to see how Cornwall is affected from this downtick.
Massena , however, is feeling it. The town’s businesses are suffering. There’s no sugar-coating it. Massena’s hurting. And I get it. I really do. For years, Cornwall and Massena have been neighbours in every sense of the word. We’ve shared everything from day trips to Christmas shopping to summer barbecues at shared family cottages. We’ve crossed that bridge a thousand times without a second thought. I used to do it every single week.
But times have changed. And with all due respect, Mr. Mayor, Cornwall isn’t the problem here. We didn’t cause this shift—and we sure as hell can’t fix it.
You know why Canadians are crossing less often, you need to stop looking north and start looking south. The United States is a different place now, and the man running it is Donald Trump—again.
This isn’t some partisan dig. It’s reality. When the sitting President of the United States starts talking about annexing Canada, even half-jokingly, people get nervous. Canadians aren’t stupid—we know the difference between political theatre and dangerous rhetoric. And right now, a lot of folks are reading the headlines and asking, “Is it really safe to go over there?” I know I am scheduled to visit family in August and I’m not too hot about it.
And it’s not just Trump’s talk of a 51st state. It’s the tariffs. It’s the deportations. It’s the hate. It’s the riots, and the steady creep of authoritarian nonsense that keeps making the news. It’s the erosion of human rights. It’s knowing that the so-called leader of the free world is launching airstrikes in the Middle East again—this time bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities like it’s just another campaign stunt.
So yeah, people are thinking twice before crossing the border. And not just into Massena. Travel is down across the board. International flights, road trips, all of it. Canadians are staying close to home, not because they don’t care about their American neighbours, but because they’re watching what’s happening and feeling uneasy.
Massena absolutely deserves support—no question. I know there are good folks there doing everything they can to keep their shops open, their downtown active, and their local economy breathing. Watching them struggle is heartbreaking. But am I willing to risk invasive phone searches or random detentions just to cross the border and help? Sorry, but no.
If Canadian families are deciding to spend their weekends on this side of the river, can you blame them? That’s their right. It may “look” like a protest, but it’s more self-preservation than anything.
Elbows Up!
The mayor of Massena might be knocking on the wrong door. If he wants real answers, real solutions, and real change, he needs to look in his own backyard and sit down at a different table. He needs to speak to someone who has the power to change the tone. That means taking his concerns to Congress. To the White House. To the very people fueling the fire that’s scaring off international visitors. Because right now, we’re not dealing with a simple economic slowdown—we’re dealing with global instability. With fear. With disillusionment.
It’s going to take more than a handshake and a press release to bring things “back to normal.” It’s going to take a serious change in tone — and that starts at the top. So maybe the next time the mayor of Massena wants to make a public appeal, he should try someone who can actually do something about it.
Put pressure on the man in the White House.
