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Woke Vermonters attempt to entice Canadians with a feeble overture meant to whitewash years of poor, Marxist management that increased crime and decreased economic vitality.
by John Klar, in The American Spectator
In a virtue-signaling display of institutional Trump Derangement Syndrome, the city of Burlington, Vermont, passed a resolution to spend $3,000 to rename its main shopping corridor from Church Street to Canada Street. The silly effort is premised on the goal of attracting more shoppers to the progressive Gotham’s dying commercial sector in a spiteful swipe at President Trump. Burlington is cutting off its nose on its path to self-destruction.
The Resolution recites its “shared values with Canadian neighbors” and data suggesting “Canadian visitors are vital to our local economy, particularly in the downtown where small businesses, restaurants, hotels, and retail shops rely on cross-border tourism.” Burlington has experienced a sharp drop-off in foot traffic to its downtown Church Street Marketplace following years of Seattle-like progressive policies.
Burlington’s street renaming solution to its economic woes blames Donald Trump for its decline:
“WHEREAS, recent reporting indicates a noticeable decline in Canadian travel to Vermont, with travelers citing concern about the Trump administration’s political rhetoric and immigration policies that expose them to risk of detention as reasons for canceled or postponed visits
“WHEREAS, these policies from the Trump administration do not reflect the views and values of city leaders and residents, and the City of Burlington wishes to make sure our Canadian neighbors know this loud and clear;”
The truth is obscured from Burlington’s Progressives by the self-immolating ideology that has steadily destroyed the once-vibrant Green Mountain metropolis. Illegal immigrants populate the sanctuary city; gang violence is reflected in street shootings and the ubiquitous graffiti staining once-beautiful architecture; free needle sites ensure dirty syringes litter the shopping sidewalks. Drastically defunding the Burlington police and repeatedly electing far-left prosecutor Sarah George to set “marginalized” criminals at large have led Vermonters to shun the city for recreation or shopping.
A September 2024 article, bluntly titled “Burlington businesses sound the alarm over declining foot traffic, sales,” described the glaring reasons Canadians stayed home long before Donald Trump could be scapegoated:
Many Burlington businesses report a decline in revenues this summer amid an array of struggles downtown.
Store owners are often reluctant to say business is bad for fear it will make the situation worse. But many are frustrated over declining revenues caused by visitors’ concerns about public safety and an exodus of downtown workers.
The situation is prompting businesses to hit the panic button and ask people to shop locally because they are worried about closing … Th[e] challenges include crime, open drug use and other bad behavior.
Vermont’s Continued Decline
A recent letter, signed by over 100 Burlington business owners, petitioned the city to relocate a longstanding food shelf away from the public parking garage, where posting police at taxpayer expense has failed to control crime. This created a backlash and capitulation by the progressive-coddling Burlington mayor elected for her gay virtues to implement a “renewed sense of community empowerment.”
The city continues to sink in the quicksand of progressive folly while city councilors shift blame to Donald Trump and solicit rescue from Canadians chased away by crime, decline, and city taxes. Burlington can’t balance its books due to overspending, despite increasing property taxes and a sales surtax on businesses that is shrinking the city’s revenues.
Now the city is spending $3,000 on “bilingual signage, including street signs, Canadian flags and other marketing materials” to attract Canadians, it claims have been scared away by fears of arrest and deportation. A gaslighting Olympian has championed the street renaming ruse:
“Symbolism is important. It shows that we care,’ said Councilor Becca Brown McKnight (D-Ward 6), the resolution’s primary sponsor, who wore a Canadian flag-themed T-shirt to commemorate the vote.
Councilor McKnight said the name change is a playful way of showing appreciation to Canadians. It’s also a dig at Trump’s own penchant for rebranding national landmarks, such as the Gulf of Mexico, which the president renamed the Gulf of America on the first day of his second term.
Councilor Gene Bergman (P-Ward 2) said the gesture is also a rejection of the xenophobia perpetuated by recent unprecedented immigration raids.
Burlington is a self-proclaimed refuge for illegals and indigents that rolls out the red carpet for fentanyl-dealing street gangs while treating police like criminals. Now it proposes to solve these visible failures by “encouraging Canadian tourism, and celebrating our shared values and borderless friendship.”
The border between the U.S. and Canada remains intact, as does the border between economic reality and Marxist Utopia. Burlington is no friend to the businesses it is slowly strangling in its empty quest to fault Trump for its pernicious fatuity.
Burlington businesses are suffering the wokester ills that have infested progressive cities nationwide. Burlington is banking on Canadians risking their lives and treading where Vermonters eschew walking. French-language signs won’t conceal the stench.
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Categories: Commentary
Lipstick on a pig…to put it very, very mildly!
The church at the head of Church Street must be religious oppression, I guess. As for Canadians, they probably think they are more likely to be mugged than welcomed. Most of us outside the city avoid it unless need demands.
A few days ago I was thinking to myself…
Why did even the Wokest businesses sign that petition to relocate “””food not cops”””?
With this news, I wonder if they knew this was coming…
French street signs sure are going to attract a lot of illegal border crossings in the north…
$3,000 to rename the street………..perhaps could have gone to increasing police beats in this dangerous drug infested area or one way bus tickets to rid the area of homeless, basically a myriad of options but our illustrate leaders use it to treat TDS, oi vey
Let them Burlington residents keep changing Burlington in every way conceivable. Like to see it happening. Shows their mindset. But I pity the residents that do care. There are no fences around VT.
Once a beautiful place to walk, dine and shop, might as well call it Septic Avenue now. If I was Canadian, I’d be insulted.
Canadian’s are insulted… but not by Septic Ave. By the drivel of our president.
Was the street name change involve a resolution by the City Council. But what about the E911 council, did they agree ? Was the police, fire, rescue ; aren’t they required to be part of the decision ? What about ALL the businesses on Church St, and everyone living on Church St ? Were they all notified 30 days prior ?
AGAIN, something stinks in City Hall ❗ It sounds like just a hand full of people made the determination to the name change which doesn’t give it the authority as it stands. Who is paying the $3,000 ? You already have a budget blunder you need to fix.
No effort to regain the loss foot traffic of the rural Vermonters that no longer go there? Oh wait, nevermind, they will just get our tax money as I am sure a bailout of that city is not far away.
Seems like Burlington officials are continuing down a path of self-destruction. They’re so intent on making everything “fair and equitable” and grasping for ways to fix the things they’ve broken that they can’t comprehend they’ve done it to themselves . If they want to really fix things they should look to past administrations that were successful and do what was done back then. If they don’t, there’s not much hope for the future of a once great city.
Let’s trade Burlington to Canada for Edmonton.
I do not believe our northern brethren are that stupid
nothing new here. Canusa street in Derby Line.
Should have named it ‘ No Kings Street’. The signage was already available and there were many volunteers ready and willing to make it happen.
Nothing new for us here in the northwestern corner of Vermont. Swanton has had a Canada Street for at least 150 years and it is thriving!
So, the wokesters who came up with this silliness did it for two nefarious reasons:
1.) Inherently duplicitous virtue signaling which doesn’t truly honor Canadians, but actually disrespects them by relegating them to pawns manipulated for the wokesters’ own selfish motives (the hope of increased foot traffic for financial gain).
2.) To spite President Trump.
And another possible reason:
3.) To jettison and distance themselves from any Christian connotations, e.g., the word “Church.”
A new council in a few years will vote to return the street back to its original name when someone realizes the silly motivation has not produced the desired results.
This pandering sounds a bit like advocating for illegal aliens out of concern for “who is going to wipe our asses”. Understandable that the business community in BTV is concerned but it is leftist policies in the wake of the George Floyd era that have compromised Burlington’s reputation, not our President’s admittedly stupid comments about annexing Canada.
Unfortunately, articles like this discourage republicans to move to this state, making it harder to tip the political scales. Fortunately, enough centrists are starting to recognize the reality outlined here. I’m not sure what Klar means that ‘the border between US and Canada remains in tact.” Yes, it is still there. But no, Canadians are not coming to Burlington, nor the rest of Vermont. And decline in the rest of Vermont is due solely to Trump’s rhetoric. He built an invisible wall between our nations with his words. Even Hill Farmstead in Greensboro is taking a hit. So is Jay Peak… those places couldn’t be further from the woes of Burlington. So, while this article has it’s accurate message about Burlington, it ignores how our president is responsible for declining Canadian tourism across the state. Border crossings into VT from Canada are down 75,000 last month from the year prior. And Canadian’s approval of US has dropped from over 50% down to 18% in the last six months alone.
Re: “And decline in the rest of Vermont is due solely to Trump’s rhetoric.”
Speaking of ‘drivel’. Nothing in Vermont politics is due solely to any one thing. So, what about the crime, drug culture and high taxes afflicting us? To some, it’s always someone else’s fault. Which is, in reality, why these poor conditions persist.
Oh, Jay, I knew you’d be on me over this one! (To be clear, the quote you reference from my post is referencing Canadian tourism and not migration from other American states.) I think we should take Canadians at their word when they site Trump and his policies as their reason for not coming. And I know you’re skilled at the computer can do a bit of research to indicate that. (Your favorite Seven Days and VTDigger are all over this) I’d be curious if you could find information that supports the idea that crime, culture, and high taxes are stopping Canadians from coming? I looked, and can’t find any such reference. As far as migration to our state from Americans, we’re doing better than 46 states, per capita that is. So crime, drugs, and high taxes are not stopping Americans from moving here, nor are they stopping Canadians from visiting.
Re: “Oh, Jay, I knew you’d be on me over this one!” Like a rooster on a June Bug.
Re: “can do a bit of research…” Go ahead. Make my day. Of course, Digger and 7 Days aren’t the only authorities on this matter.
.
Word has it from the great White North, aka Kanadastan, those unwoke in Ontario, BC, Newfie, Quebec, etc. are broke as well. Their country in a deficit, corrupted, and compromised beyond recognition. Twinkle Socks switched out for a bankster of the same breed and/or bloodline. Their replacements flooded in just as was done here in the divided States of Ameristan. Are the Brits coming in to tour our demise as they once did? Are other global tourist desitinations flourishing or diminishing? The bubble people are fighting to stay in all ready burst – the illusion is still alive – sorry to say it – more sorry to be living through it – but alas, here we are – depopulation, wealth transfer, reset. The greatest show on earth!
That’s one of the most hilarious posts yet, Melissa. I don’t know about other global tourist destinations, but I do care about my friends in this state whose business sales have dropped because of a lack of Canadians. (mine included.) I enjoy your humor and share some of your sentiments. But the problem is Trump. The solution is to replace him with a responsible republican.
No worries Nick and I’m sorry your business is suffering – Truth is when the US dollar is devalued, decades of debt spending, wanton theft and mismanagement of the public Trust goes unprosecuted, uncorrected, unbridled, and monopolized – your buiness and so many others are going down the drain by design. The powers that be – not only Trump – don’t care about you, me, or anyone else except their own billionaire brothern and bloodlines. They want it all – considering the holdings of Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street, they got a good grip on a whole lot of it. They are determined to take it all and control it all. Take a look into Open Secrets and find out how our Congress is bought and controlled by foreign lobbies and corporations. It is disgusting, but that is where we are at. Free will to research the facts over fiction.
I don’t understand what you mean. I did my research. I offered two local news outlets which have multiple articles supporting my argument citing multiple polls and research within the articles. You offer conjecture.
Again, the pot persists in calling the kettle black.
“I’ve seen a definite decrease. But our weather hasn’t been wonderful, so we’ve had a lot of rain, so that could be growing as well,” said Destinee Rose-Haas of Grand Isle State Park.” – WCAX
Then there are the reciprocal trade tariffs (not rhetoric) finally being imposed on Canadian imports & exports to level the economic playing field, not to mention the weakness of Canada’s dollar exchange rate, where their dollar is worth only 73 cents here in the U.S..
But who’s counting?
Anecdotally, my daughter-in-law’s Canadian father would love to come visit the family in VT and NH. But because of a recent heart condition, the Canadian universal health insurance system is restricting his travel and won’t cover him if he has a medical episode here in the U.S.. And he’s been on a waiting list for Canadian treatment for more than a year. Of course, if Canadian insurance covered him, he could get treatment here in the U.S. tomorrow.
These are contributing factors explaining why the Canadians are as averse to accepting responsibility for these circumstances as are Burlington’s progressive administrators and the local media, instead preferring to blame every adverse condition on Trump.
“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.” —Ronald Reagan
As I said, “Nothing in Vermont politics is due solely to any one thing.”
Jay, that is humor at it’s best! First you blame the weather and then you blame… wait for it… Trump’s tariff policy! HAHAHAHAH! If he were not in office we wouldn’t have the stupid tariffs. I might have to write another article to prove my point. I will use you as a reference! thanks.
Nick, all, please remember no mocking of other commenters
I suppose the truth can be humorous, Nick. But it is, nonetheless, the truth.
sorry Jay. Perhaps the weather is responsible for a 30% decline in border crossings into VT from Canada. I suppose climate change is real.
Re: “Perhaps the weather is responsible for a 30% decline in border crossings into VT from Canada.”
But 30% isn’t zero percent, Nick. You said the problem is “…due solely to Trump’s rhetoric.”
‘Solely’… an adverb: It means, ‘to the exclusion of all else’.
Again, there are the Trump tariffs, the Canadian dollar exchange rates, travel limitations imposed by Canadian health insurance regulations, and yes, the weather.
This is not to say that many Vermonters don’t ‘solely’ blame Trump’s rhetoric too. I believe most Vermonters, and many Canadians are equally deluded. But that doesn’t make them right. Just listen to yourself. Just listen to Becca Balint’s recent tirade…comparing ICE agents to “vigilantes”, as though under-cover plain-clothes police officers are a recent manifestation of lawlessness. I wouldn’t be surprised if Canadian paranoia, resulting from Balint’s dystopian viewpoint, is part of the reason for the decline too. It’s as if Balint doesn’t want Canadians to come to America.
I understand what you’re saying, Nick. But I don’t understand why you say it. It makes no sense. The facts, simply don’t support your initial contention that the “… decline in the rest of Vermont is due solely to Trump’s rhetoric”.
That’s my opinion.