Windsor's mayor is calling a trip south of the border a success.
Mayor Drew Dilkens joined mayors from several other Canadian cities for a trip last week to Washington, DC, where talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were front and centre.
Dilkens told reporters following Monday's Windsor City Council meeting that they spent the week discussing trade with many American mayors, who were in the US capital for the U.S. Conference on Mayors. He says the Canadian group was very pleased with the way things turned out.
"I think we had a great reception with the folks that we met with," says Dilkens. "There was strong support for Canada's position."
Dilkens was joined by London Mayor Matt Brown on the trip, along with the mayors of Ottawa, Edmonton, Gatineau and Quebec City.
The meetings coincided with the sixth round of talks to renegotiate NAFTA, the comprehensive trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico. US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull his country out of the agreement unless it is renegotiated. Some business leaders, like Fiat-Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne, have expressed anxiety over the pace of the talks.
Dilkens says many of the Canadian mayors' fears were alleviated after they sat down with their US counterparts and found that they have similar views.
"What you find when you talk to other mayors in the room, you realize that the vast majority of their perspectives are much different than the perspective you hear from the top government of the United States," says Dilkens.
The mayor points out that over 30 of the 50 US states have some form of trade with Canada.
"I guess it makes sense to a big extent because the mayors of cities across the United States are also the ones with boots on the ground in those cities, understanding the impact of what's going on in their communities and how their own businesses trade with Mexico and Canada," says Dilkens.
Trump has called NAFTA the worst trade deal in US history. However, his administration has expressed a willingness to continue the agreement under renegotiated terms.