Blake Ellis/The Independent

Tariffs are on the top of mind of most Canadians these days, and the trustees at the Lambton-Kent
District School Board are no different.

Prompted by a question from Trustee Randy McKay on March 25, Associate Director Brian McKay said
the school board is spending well less of $1 million annually of products or services originating in the
United States. With a $340 million budget, said McKay, it amounts to less than a half of a percent of
school board’s entire budget.

There are three American companies the organization does business with, where software and software
protection services are purchased. In this case, the school board is not able to get the same products
and services in Canada.

When trustees were passing a tender for a boiler replacement at Brights Grove Public School, Trustee
Greg Agar asked about American content, with McKay responding this project is “100 percent Canadian.”
The total cost of the boiler replacement is $548,000.

Since the election of American President Donald Trump last November, he has been threatening to
place tariffs on Canadian goods crossing the United States border. On March 4, Trump announced a 25
percent tariff on Canadian exports into the United States with a 10 percent tariff on energy products.

Canada responded with imposing tariffs on $30 billion worth of American imports to Canada. The United
States imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium products on March 12. Canada then
countered with tariffs on American steel and aluminium product, as well as other products.

On April 2, Trump confirmed a tariff on vehicles not covered by current trade agreements.

Lambton County politicians also talked about a buy Canadian policy as the tariffs loomed.