Expert warns blocking U.S. ships in Welland Canal is ‘shooting ourselves in the foot’

Some Canadians have taken to social media to suggest that Ottawa should block American ships from passing through the Welland Canal, in retaliation for the latest round of American tariffs.

Similar to what Iran is doing with the Strait of Hormuz.

The trade expert CHCH News spoke to says given the integrated supply chain, it’s not a realistic option.

The Welland Canal is located on the western half of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes.

The canal links Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, and uses eight locks that can be filled with water, or drained to transport vessels between different sea levels.

“If you look at the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway microeconomics, if you will, it accounts for about $5 billion in economic activity for Ontario alone, it supports 350,000 jobs on both sides of the border,” says John Boscariol, a partner at McCarthy Tetrault, an international trade and investment law group.

“It would really be shooting ourselves in the foot if we were to take a measure like this in retaliation.”

Boscariol says if Canada was to take such a drastic step, we can expect the U.S. to retaliate by preventing Canadian vessels from moving through the locks that it controls along the St. Lawrence Seaway, particularly in New York state.

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