Maine’s border towns feel decline in Canadian visitors: ‘Half our community is gone’

115,000 fewer people crossed Maine’s border with Canada in August compared with the same month a year ago. That’s a drop of 28%. August’s numbers are in line with a growing trend established around the time President Donald Trump began to make disparaging remarks about the country, calling for it to become America’s 51st state, and threatened the country with a volley of tariffs. For months, Maine’s elected officials, tourism experts and business owners have wrung their hands in anticipation of how the president’s actions and rhetoric might impact the state’s economy, which relies heavily on tourism. “It feels like half our community is gone,” said Sarah, a Calais resident who declined to provide her last name.