To the editor:

Dear America and Adirondack tourist board (Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism):

My husband and I have been on so many wonderful vacations to the U.S. and particularly to your lovely region. We always admire and appreciate the genuine warmth of the ordinary Americans we encounter on our vacations. However, sadly, we have made a strategic choice to suspend our visits to the U.S. until the current, authoritarian regime is replaced. We feel that we do not want to inject money into the American economy at this time. As I’m sure you are aware, Canadian tourists spend $35.1 billion in the U.S. each year (out of a total foreign tourist expenditure in the U.S. of $133 billion). Our decision is two-fold:

¯ As white, Canadian-born citizens, we feel it is not ethical to go through the open door to the U.S. when not ALL Canadians, of all faiths and skin colours, are equally welcome to go through that door as guest to your country. Until ALL Canadians are welcome, we won’t take advantage of our white privilege.

¯ The other factor is that many news stories are appearing in Canada and abroad underscoring the increased scrutiny and detention or rejection of Canadians of all types at your border — I guess because Trump has sent the border guards this message. We have close friends who were detained for two hours of questioning in Florida recently, causing them to miss their flight and one day of accommodation. This is simply not acceptable to us. We are paying guests in your home but feel unwelcome in your home. We would rather spend our tourist dollars in countries that truly appreciate us and make us feel like guests instead of threats to security.

We really hope that Americans wake up and make better decisions in future to choose a leader who sends a more welcoming message to the world and who is fair to his own people. Until then, we look forward to visiting the Adirondacks and America again, hopefully in 2020. We realize that, unfortunately, the average Americans likely did not even vote for this administration and will also suffer from our decision not to visit the U.S. We regret this collateral damage, but we must adhere to our principals.

Sincerely,

Liesa Grant

Ottawa, Ontario