The International Peace Garden that straddles the Canada-United States border has for more than 90 years been a quiet, pastoral place to celebrate friendship between the two countries.
People can stroll through flower gardens and see displays about international co-operation, often without noticing that they’ve crossed the border between Manitoba and North Dakota several times.
With U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of imposing tariffs on Canada and making it the 51st state, some people are feeling a bit less neighbourly and saying they have no plans to visit this year.
“I have received strong emails from individuals in our local communities and cannot fault them for feeling the way they do,” Tim Chapman, the garden’s chief executive officer, wrote in a recent message to supporters.
In an interview, Chapman said the emails came from Canadians dismayed at rhetoric from south of the border.
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The garden is a non-profit operation that …