MONTREAL — Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and St. Catharine’s, Ont., Mayor Mat Siscoe have been denied accreditation for a meeting at the White House on Friday amid the trade war between Canada and the U.S.
The two mayors are in Washington, D.C., for meetings of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a group of municipal and Indigenous government leaders who represent the region on both sides of the border.
A spokesperson for the cities initiative says the names of Plante, Siscoe, and a mayor from an American city were submitted ahead of Friday’s meeting, scheduled as part of the annual Great Lakes Day event in Washington.
The group says it was informed on Wednesday that due to diplomatic protocol, there wasn’t enough time to process the requests of the Canadian mayors. Instead, three American mayors will attend the meeting, whose White House participants were not disclosed.
However, the group says in a statement that U.S. and Canadian mayors from the cities initiative have attended meetings at the White House for many years “with similar timelines and no obstacles.”
Friday’s meeting comes amid rising tensions between Canada and the United States following the imposition earlier this week of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products by U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.
The Canadian Press
