Canadians feeling 'unsafe' in US ?

Is Mariners Blue Jays a rivalry?

I'd say more of a Western Canada-USA rivalry.

It's not a Mariners/Blue Jay thing per se. Not like the rivalry between the Leafs and the Habs. Pardon the cross sports analogy. Indeed it's more a western Canada baseball fan / proximity to a MLB game thing. And no, I wouldn't expect to see as many Canadian fans in the seats this season.

Is Mariners Blue Jays a rivalry?

No, but it's a quick drive or flight for a lot of us across the border and it's become a thing for there to be more Jays fans at the series in Seattle than Mariners fans. The Jays broadcast crew was talking about it and wondering too. I had read one article that mentioned that ticket sales were down this year for that series. I was going to go to Denver this summer when the Jays were there but cancelled that. My friend and I discussed Seattle this year but we both decided we'd avoid the US for now.

Based on this article, not as many Jays fans are coming this season. https://streetsoftoronto.com/seattle-blue-jays-game-discount-for-canadians/ It's surprising because if you google it, every season there are articles wishing more Mariners fans would show up to down our the Jays fans.

Allan, you actually find it surprising that fewer Canadians are travelling into the US? Even baseball fans?

CJean. I'm surprised how quickly and how intense the boycott happened, and how resolved Canadians are about it a few months later, even in Alberta. I thought it may die out, but even in Grocery stores I'm seeing American products on sale but emptier shelves of Canadian products even when they're 10% costlier.

I've switched to Canadian based maple syrup over Ohio based maple syrup but I still can't root for the jays over the guardians.

sorry.

The Jays are in Seattle this coming weekend. Looks like there are lots of tickets available, so it seems the 'boycott' is holding.

It's about time the Jays were the 'visiting' team when playing in Seattle

Ian Bremmer who some folks say is quite the travel writer (and by some folks I suppose I really mean just me and only for the purposes of trying to sneak his quote below) posted this on bluesky:

‪ian bremmer‬
‪@ianbremmer.com‬
· 49m
how many canadians agree with the statement “it is no longer safe for all canadians travelling to the united states”?

yes: 52% (!)
no: 29%
don’t know: 19%

• acs-metropolis institute

Here's a link to an article on the survey David quoted.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-unwelcome-unsafe-travelling-to-united-states

Here's the first paragraph

The Leger survey conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies
(ACS) ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first in-person meeting
with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, found
that a majority (52 per cent) of respondents agree that “it is no
longer safe for all Canadians travelling to the United States.”
Slightly more (54 per cent) don’t feel welcome anymore. Less than a
third of Canadians (29 per cent) said they disagree that it is no
longer safe and 27 per cent said they still feel welcome. In both
cases, 19 per cent said they don’t know.

Edit to add. J.D. Vance says this about tourists coming to the World Cup next year"

“But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will
have to talk to Secretary Noem,” he added, referring to Kristi Noem,
the Secretary of Homeland Security."

Only 54% don't feel welcome??

I can top this. My son-in-law, a naturalized US Citizen is not willing to leave the country at this time because he fears border patrol will detain him upon return. Whether this is a real risk or not is not the subject of this post so no reason to discuss it. What is definitely real is his fear. So sad that any US citizen feels this uncomfortable. I can understand why Canadians may hesitate as well.

Are there really Blue Jays fans???

I kid.

Carol now retired, this makes me so sad. But I totally understand his fears and ,also, those of Canadians.

My heart breaks for what this country has become.

I'm a Blue Jay fan - when they play the Yankees or Red Sox.

I've got plenty of friends that visit the US and not once have I or them ever talked about it being unsafe. Definitely right now it's simply a boycott as far as I'm concerned. We do laugh at your gun laws (lack of) and shake our heads at the random shootings. But unsafe? Probably more cautious then I feel I need to be at home, but common sense is all one needs.

I remember when I was planning my Trip to DC a couple of years ago and I asked if the Navy Dockyards was a good place to stay. I got several comments from Americans to stay away. But all was old advice and it was fine there. In fact upscale. I wonder if even Americans overplay the safety issue. On the other hand, here's an excerpt from my Trip Report regarding a conversation we had with our Uber driver. Maybe I should have felt unsafe.

Friday-“How do you protect your wife?!”

I asked him if it was profitable for him to take a fare from
Baltimore to DC and he said he’s from DC and had just taken a fair
from there to Baltimore and was especially thrilled because he says he
thought he’d have to take a couple of fares within Baltimore. He
didn’t want that because in his words “Baltimore scares me.” Our
driver was a 50-year-old African American who grew up in DC and says
he’s seen the transformation of DC from scary to “much better.” This
kicked off an hour-long conversation that touched on all topics
including politics, racism, and safety. He talked about his discomfort
in DC for him and two of his three adult kids who still live there. He
said while it’s safer, there are still problems and he joked that his
3rd child is in the army and is probably safer than all of them. We
brought up that it was hard to understand where he's coming from
because we don’t feel that way at home. Then I brought up that I’ve
never even held a gun before, and he snapped his head around to look
at me while driving 65mph down the freeway and asked me “how do you
protect your wife?” He asked it with such passion that Carla and I
didn’t know what to say at first and could only tell him that we just
don’t live in a place that people think it’s necessary. He just shook
his head and said he needed to be quiet for a moment to absorb what we
just said. Finally, he said he was envious and couldn’t imagine not
having to worry about personal safety.

So, while I’ll tell people that our trip was a success and I highly
recommend DC and Baltimore, I’m unsure how I should address the issue
when people ask me if we felt safe. Because yes, we did think it was
safe and never felt uncomfortable, but we did find it bizarre just how
many shops, restaurants and museums had “no guns” signs outside their
entrances. Is it really that bad that people need to be told? And,
after that conversation with our driver I’m hesitant not to add a
“but” to my answer even though from what we observed the the two
cities deserve high marks as worthy travel destinations.

Entire Trip Report is here. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/an-american-trip-report-washington-dc-and-baltimore

*edit to add...my interpretation of the unsafe part of the survey is that it is based on fear of crossing the border and being locked up. That is what people are talking about, including my group of white friends with above average incomes. Perception may not be reality but it is harming the American image.

but feeling 'unsafe' ... really???

Check your gun crime statistics and get back to us.

I know several Canadians that come to South Georgia in the Winter. It is totally save here for all, including Canadians.

Of course, many American large cities are risky, especially in certain areas. It is not a Canadian/USA issue, it is defund the police and poor leadership in those cities.

It's not primarily about the physical safety on the streets aspect; although for some it is. It's the sudden change in attitude at the border, and the fact that detention on the whim of a border agent, without due process, is a non zero risk even for an average traveller with no nefarious intentions. How secure do you think a traveller feels when they see the Mayor of a large city arrested and Congressmen manhandled by ICE?

Cuts both ways. We were considering a trip to Vancouver/Victoria, but decided against it after hearing about how vociferous Canadians were in boycotting American goods. Just didn't want to spend our money in order to run into negative attitudes in Canada. That said, both Americans and Canadians are generally regarded as "nice" people for visitors, and neither Americans nor Canadians have any real issues with each other, so with time this will blow over. It's not as if we're talking Kosovo and Serbia here!

I was just in Montreal and had a great time! Felt safe, good people, good food, wow!

I apologized to my Canadian friends and they said they felt sorry for me-- and not just for being a Cleveland Guardians fan. (Yes, being a browns fan is also a cross to bear.)

I think it's best that we hope for leaders who are kind, humble, respectful and decent.

In the meantime, Blue Jays, what? Are they even a thing still?

Sorry1

FYI at a recent morning coffee gathering of American women living in France, I heard how family after family has decided not to visit the US this year. Coincidence?

I hope David can clarify: I grew up with the Indians, is Guardian the new name? We have bricks with family names on them at the stadium.

I went to the Mariners - Blue Jays game yesterday (I have visiting foreign relatives, the young boys are sports-crazed and had zero prior exposure to baseball; tickets were cheap enough, we went and had fun - the Mariners got absolutely crushed 9-1, BTW).

Lots of Blue Jays fans in evidence. Lots of them sitting around us (the cheap seats). We all joined in singing O Canada (I had to explain that to the boys - they learned how Canada was the best next-door neighbor and the best friend that any country could ever hope for, and how the USA was so lucky to have two really cool countries to the north and south of us).

All the Blue Jay fans we saw seemed to be lovely, well-behaved folks. We had opportunities to chat with some of them while waiting in a very, very long line to have the kids run the bases after the game. All the folks we spoke with were from BC, had driven down for the day's game. I thanked them for coming and told them i hoped they were enjoying their visit and feeling welcome "in spite of all the..." (I waved my hands at the sky and shook my head). They all smiled, chuckled a little, and assured me they felt welcome here - and that since their team had just beat the snot out of the Mariners, they were having a great time. I added my apologies for all the nonsense about a 51st state, but told them that if they were ever shopping for an 11th province, I knew of a nearby place that would probably jump at the chance to become Baja Columbia. They all seemed to appreciate that (one man told me his brother's family lived in California but were now preparing to emigrate to Canada). All agreed that "this too shall pass" and things would eventually get better again, and hopefully return to normal.

These Canadians seemed to feel quite safe, at least in Seattle. (But if their team keeps crushing the local baseball club like they did yesterday, I suppose that could change - I kid, I kid. Seriously, O Canada, the true north strong and free. We still love ya.)

As a Canadian, I am agreeing with CJean’s post.

Many of us here will never set foot in the u. s. again until the current “regime” is ended.
It’s very sad, as I know not every u.s. resident supports the current insanity there.
I have not traveled to, or changed flights in the u. s. for 10 years.
My friends here with vacation property there are not returning, just leaving them empty for now.

We have a lady from a u.s. border town near us who comes over each week to take a class I’m enrolled in.
She is teary a lot of the time about what is happening over there, so we have made her an honorary Canuck .
Which of course made her cry even more.

I’m also beginning to believe that u.s. media is not keeping the u.s. totally informed about what other countries feel…….
Perhaps tune in to some Canadian news sources.

(Waiting to be shut down here now.)

Perhaps tune in to some Canadian news sources.

@ SJ: An excellent suggestion. CBC (Canada's primary broadcast network) is available in many US cities (both radio and TV) and has some excellent programming.

Here in Seattle, our local NPR affiliate KUOW carries some CBC programs every week, including As It Happens, which I try to catch whenever I can - I always find it enjoyable and informative. As It Happens features news, stories and interviews with newsmakers and other interesting people with stories to tell - it's kind of a Canadian version of NPR's All Things Considered but has an unmistakable, Canadian charm (a bit more warm, friendly, slightly more informal and genuine that most US-based "news" reporting - it just seems more "friendly" and "real" to me, but I'm a longtime fan).

I really miss Suart McLean's old show, The Vinyl Cafe, which was part of my weekend routine for many years - it used to air every Sunday before the host passed away (I would compare The Vinyl Cafe favorably to public radio's A Prairie Home Companion, it offered a mix of folksy humor, story-telling and musical guests, all with Canadian charm...it was a lovely show).

CBC radio used to be easier to receive deep into the US but as I understand it, they've been pulling out from high-power AM broadcasts in favor of FM serving major cities. I understand CBC is also available via Sirius XM satellite radio, if you get that, and streaming online from CBC's website.

Canadian media is like a breath of fresh air. A good thing to check out when you have the chance.

Yes, the Cleveland Guardians were formally known as the Cleveland Indians.

No World Series win since 1948!

Cursed!

. I wonder if even Americans overplay the safety issue

This an understatement! Lots of money made by lots of people fomenting fear.

Note a poster above misdirecting crime concerns. The rural Deep South has the highest US crime rate. I just read Mississippi has the highest murder rate of all states, Louisiana is second.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/crime-rate-by-state

Crime in the USA is focused largely certain areas particularly in large cities. Example, Miami, Fla, has a terrible area

Based on FBI statistics, Overtown, Opa-Locka, Downtown, Wynwood, and Model City are the most dangerous neighborhoods in Miami. These neighborhoods rank highest per capita for both property and violent crimes on a constant basis, with between 96-295% higher crime occurrences than all of Miami. Other areas you should avoid include Upper Eastside, North Miami, and Bayside Harbor.
Overall, Florida offers people a unique living experience and each area. Miami offers impeccable shopping, clean beaches, and a lot of nightlife you can enjoy. It can be the perfect state to settle down and raise a family in the sun, but you will want to avoid these areas and look at different neighborhoods.

I live in a community on coastal Georgia that has a fantastic crime rate, but there is a nearby city with gangs and a high rate. I never visit the crime area in that city.

The key is to know where you are going.

We can cross post statistics but here is the rural South data. Fear of cities is misplaced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_intentional_homicide_rate#/media/File:Map_of_US_county_homicide_rates.png

I am going to steer clear of the topic and just point out that statistics are rarely as meaningful as they appear. Look at the link above. According to that map, the most dangerous place in the US is Alaska. Based on the criteria, it's true, but the criteria isn't real life. Especially for a tourist.

All of this makes me very sad. We have always had a wonderful relationship with our neighbors to the north. Don’t blame them one bit for boycotting and promoting purchasing Canadian products.

Am going there after cruise and I don’t hesitate one bit to do so.