Final Reading: Amid fraying relations, Canada’s top New England diplomat visits Montpelier – VTDigger

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for U.S.-Canada relations.

As a trade war threatens to erupt between the two nations, President Donald Trump and his allies continue to suggest the U.S. should annex it’s northern neighbor, often calling Canada the 51st state and referring to its prime minister as its governor.

On the other side of the border, meanwhile, there’s a growing movement to boycott U.S. goods and cancel travel plans to the country. A few days ago, fans in Montreal savagely booed the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a 4 Nations hockey tournament game between Canada and the U.S.

“I would say that a lot of that’s because of the 51st state comments, more so than the tariffs,” Bernadette Jordan, Canada’s Consul General in New England, told VTDigger Tuesday. “It’s disrespectful. We as a people are proud of our country.”

Regardless of the comments coming out of the White House, though, Jordan said that, in the long term, she thought the two countries would remain close allies. “I think that our relationship has been so strong for so long,” she said. “We have so many ties.”

Canada’s top diplomat to New England was visiting the Statehouse in Montpelier to reaffirm those ties. Between a flurry of meetings with state lawmakers and officials, Jordan and her staff provided a spread in the Statehouse cafeteria, where platters of sandwiches and maple candies sat on a table marked with little Canadian flags. 

That morning, Jordan had been in the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, where she spoke with similarly flummoxed lawmakers about the tariffs Trump imposed — and then postponed — on most imports from Canada. 

Now expected to go into effect March 4, the tariffs could have potentially far-reaching consequences for Vermont’s economy. Canada is Vermont’s largest trading partner, and the state imports about $2.6 billion in goods each year from Canada, exporting $680 million worth of goods in return, according to statistics provided by Jordan’s office.

“The fact that we’re even in this place I find somewhat surprising and a little bit nerve racking, quite frankly,” Jordan told committee members. “The people we’ve always been best friends with are now threatening things — it’s a concern.”

Lawmakers told the Consul General that she was preaching to the choir.

“I think as well as you are, we’re kind of trying to understand what is going on with this relationship that we’ve grown to love,” chair Rep. Michael Marcotte, R-Coventry said. “We don’t know what’s going on.”

— Habib Sabet

In the know

The House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee unveiled a sweeping bill Wednesday morning that would make dozens of changes to the state’s election laws. 

The bill would, among other measures, pilot ranked-choice voting for the 2028 U.S. presidential primary election, prohibit candidates from running in a general election under more than one political party label (such as P/D) and nix the ability for candidates to avoid filing a campaign finance disclosure if they don’t meet a certain fundraising threshold (which is, now, $500).

House GovOps plans to spend a “very notable” amount of time working on the bill over the coming weeks, committee chair Rep. Matt Birong, D-Vergennes, said Wednesday. 

 — Shaun Robinson

Vermont lawmakers are considering a proposal to offload nearly all of Green Mountain Transit’s bus service outside of Chittenden County to other, nearby service providers — a move that would significantly reshape how the state’s largest public transportation agency operates.

A state consultant’s report found the plan could free up badly-needed resources at Green Mountain Transit, where financial troubles have led the agency to scale back or cut service in and around Burlington in recent months. The plan could also save the state money, the report found, while still preserving services in more rural areas. 

But the proposal is facing criticism from the union that represents many of Green Mountain Transit’s drivers, which says some drivers could see a pay cut and lose many of their benefits if their jobs are transferred to a transit agency whose workplace is not organized, as has been proposed in one case. 

— Shaun Robinson

On the move

On Wednesday, Governor Phil Scott signed into law H.35 which makes permanent the separation between the small group and individual health insurance plan markets in Vermont Health Connect, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace run by the Department of Vermont Health Access. 

The two plans were separated on a temporary basis in 2021 to allow Vermonteres to take advantage of broader eligibility for federal subsidies for those buying in the individual market through the American Rescue Plan Act. Without federal action, those expanded subsidies will expire at the end of this year.

— Kristen Fountain

Visit our 2025 bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following. 

Opinion refresh

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If the answer to any of these questions is yes, we want to hear from you. 

As VTDigger seeks to continue improving its opinion section, we’re hoping to identify new voices willing to share their views on issues facing Vermont. Here’s how you can help: Fill out this form to share your suggestions of topics to cover or writers to recruit. And if you’re interested in picking up a pen yourself, check out our submission guidelines and send your work to opinion@vtdigger.org.

— VTD Editors

Corrections section

In Tuesday’s newsletter, we (editors) failed to take note of a change in the party affiliation of Rep. Troy Headrick, I-Burlington. The former Progressive/Democrat announced late last month on his campaign website that he was dropping both labels. Though Headrick said he still believes in the need for a third party in Vermont and that his values have not changed, he wrote that “inter-party dynamics are impeding my ability to build sincere and productive relationships” across the Legislature. 

— VTD Editors