US customs blocks supplies to Canadian Island

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Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current podcast. Just off the coast of Maine lies a sliver of New Brunswick known as Campobello Island. It's a small community of about, uh, just under 1,000 people. Uh, and it's where President Franklin Roosevelt spent his summers. Long been a symbol of the close relationship between Canada and the United States, and that's in part because there's only one way to get there by land. It's a bridge from Maine. Well, now the trade war between these two countries has turned that connection into a bit of a roadblock. Earlier this week, a truck full of supplies headed for the island from New Brunswick was halted at the border, forced to reroute and deliver the shipments via ferry. But with ferry service set to end on Thanksgiving, there is some concern about how people on the island will continue to get the goods they need. Harvey Matthews is the mayor of Campobello Island, and joins us now. Harvey, good morning. Harvey, are you there? He was there. He was on a ferry, it's worth mentioning.

Sorry.

Oh, there he is.

Sorry about that.

Now he's back. [laughs]

I had, I had it on mute so I wouldn't bother you, but anyway, good morning. How are you? [laughs]

[laughs] I'm really well, thanks. For people who don't know this beautiful part of the world, just how dependent is your island on these truck deliveries?

Well, everything that we have here, we either have to get from the States or it has to travel through the States, you know, most of the year or at least the winter months for sure. But, you know, the, our ferry's a seasonal ferry. It's one of those deals where it's take more time sometimes to, to deliver by ferry than it does by vehicle. So usually, you know, our freight comes through the American side from border to border.

And so when you learned that this truck had been stopped at the border, what went through your mind?

Well, I, I just found it hard to believe considering it was a bonded truck, um, you know, going from Calais to Campobello. I mean, no stops in the States. I understand the reason it was stopped was because, you know, the, with the trade war and the, the Canadian alcohol was being banned or whatever, but, like, it wasn't gonna stop anywhere. And, and, you know, as far as the alcohol itself goes, I mean, yes, we can live without that, but that's part of the income for the store that was get, you know, was receiving that.

Mm-hmm.

So it's... You know, and the, there's other things like molasses and I think there's some pharmaceutical stuff. I haven't got a chance, I've had to not release the, the, you know, interviews and stuff that I