Detroit group flies banner thanking Windsor for "being a good neighbor"
It's Canadian Thanksgiving across the border, but it's the Downtown Detroit Partnership taking the opportunity to show appreciation to our northern neighbors.
CBS News Detroit's Eye in the Sky chopper captured the message behind a 30-foot banner flying along the Detroit River facing Windsor, amid political tension between Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Canada.
It's Americans who are giving thanks on Canadian Thanksgiving, defying the national narrative, and showing that the bond between Detroit and Windsor is still strong.
"Extremely classy gesture by the Downtown Detroit Partnership in this banner that is flying over our collective waterway," said Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Ryan Donally.
That's how he reacted to the words "O Canada, Bridged by Friendship, Happy Thanksgiving" flying through the air on Monday, a nod to local support for the continued partnership between southeast Michigan and Windsor.
"This remarkable symbol of how we're bridged by friendship is Canada's willingness to continue on with the Gordie Howe Bridge, despite some of the other things that are taking place," said Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson.
While the national narrative describes a deteriorating relationship between the two countries amid tariff talks and earlier threats by the Trump administration to block the bridge's opening, Detroit and Windsor leaders say the reality here couldn't be more different.
"We've had regular meetings, we've had email conversations, and I can actually attest that the relationship between Windsor folks and Detroit folks is stronger now than it was a year and a half ago," Donally said.
"We have an ability to be a stronger bi-national region, and if we just continue to remind ourselves that we're as much about the friends, family, and colleagues as we are about the we'll all get through this," Larson says.
While the goal of this banner isn't to draw national attention, Larson and Donally say it could be exactly what both countries need to see to begin repairing what is typically a strong, collaborative relationship.
