Before setting sail onboard the Coho ferry to Greater Victoria from Port Angeles, American Kathy Iredale had an important decision to make – what to wear?
Not because she was concerned about her appearance, but because she wanted to make a statement. One that made it clear to any Canadians she encountered en route that she was in no way a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs against his neighbours north of the 49th parallel.
“I was nervous,” said Iredale, who lives in Port Angeles.
With strong ties to Vancouver Island, Iredale has been making regular trips across the water for decades – she has a deep fondness for Canada and its culture, she says, especially the people, even though they can be a bit too nice and apologize too often.
But this time, it’s Iredale who can’t apologize enough – an irony not lost her on.
“It's kind of flipped,” she says.
Her way of apologizing is a long-sleeved pale blue shirt, emblazoned across it ‘Harris Walz – Unity over division’, which she wore for her Coho trip.
“I wanted everybody to know this is who I voted for, this is who I'm all about,” she said.
The only problem with her choice – it shows the American flag flying proudly, she says. “It should be upside down – it would be perfect if it was in distress, because that's when the American flag is upside down – and our country is, it certainly isn't 'united'.”
To her surprise, Iredale says she experienced no animosity on her trip across the border. But then again, she says, Canadians are nice people.
“I don't know that the Canadians have any ill will towards us as people,” she says.
Waiting to welcome Iredale to Vancouver Island was her Langford pal Sandy Sifert.
Friends for over 30 years, the pair have stuck together through thick and thin, enduring two husbands, fire, flood and a global pandemic.
But now their Canada-U.S. union faces a new challenge: Trump's trade war.
“I won't go to the States, I won't step foot in that country, I don't feel safe,” says Sifert.
Luckily for Sifert, Iredale is happy to make the trip – any excuse to escape to the country she describes as her “safe haven.”
“I can kind of feel the difference when I'm coming across, even on the ferry, all of a sudden I'll just kind of [breath a sigh of relief] – and it's because I'm in Canadian waters,” Iredale says.
“It’s just very relaxing, even though there’s craziness up here [in Langford] too – but it’s not my crazy, it’s Sandy's. I’ve got my own, obviously, in regards to all kinds of stuff in the States, but here it's just different.”
And her “safe haven” has been just that, with no hostility shown towards Iredale on her travels around the city, says Sifert. “When Kathy revealed she was American, [people] were all so kind and engaged,” she said. “Very supportive of the people of America, not the president.”
But while the warm Canadian welcome has remained the same, a change in Sifert’s shopping habits has meant Iredale has had to go without some creature comforts – most notably her favourite cream soda.
“I saw it was made by Pepsi and I'm like, ‘Nope,’” says Sifert, a staunch ‘Buy Canadian’ supporter, who very reluctantly accepted Iredale’s gift of a bottle of hair conditioner, made in California.
“It's from a ‘blue state’, so I told her I'll keep it,” says Sifert with a laugh.
As well as understanding of why Canadians are taking a stand at grocery stores across the country, Iredale says she also has huge admiration for how quick people took action.
“It was just a united thing and if nothing else, wow, it's made Canada way more united as a people, that's pretty impressive … when a whole country comes together just like that [clicks her finger].”
Members of a Canadian-U.S. softball league, the pair met in the early ‘90s. When Sifert met her now ex-husband on the opposing American side, she moved to Port Angeles, where she stayed for 10 years.
With their husbands best friends, Iredale found herself in charge of organizing Sifert’s wedding reception – the ceremony took place during the spring opener of the men's league on a baseball field in Port Angeles.
“We just hit it off,” said Iredale.
“The best part of my marriage was my friends,” adds Sifert, who moved back to Langford a single woman in 2003. “Especially Kathy, she comes up here about every three months.”
But while their friendship has remained strong as Canada-U.S relations fracture, others have not weathered the storm.
“I have friends there that I will not speak to anymore,” says Sifert. “This is tearing apart families and friendships … 32 years of solid friendship with my friends in Port Angeles and Sequim … our relationships are fractured.”
While Sifert has clashed with friends online, Iredale experiences conflict offline too. As while the majority of voters in Clallam County picked Kamala Harris for president, Trump supporters are marking their mark in the area, says Iredale.
“Having worked in the bar industry, I have a lot of acquaintances that are on that that ‘Trump level’,” she says. “All that gets talked about in the bars and stuff, so I don't even go there. It's just so exhausting to go out in public and just hear this.”
Similar to her democratic-supporting shirt, Iredale tries to make her feelings known by displaying a ‘Vote Harris-Walz’ sign in her yard. She even raised the maple leaf outside her home for National Flag of Canada Day – a move that raised some eyebrows in her neighbourhood.
It’s a reality that Iredale is not looking forward to return to – she would prefer to stay in Langford, away from the “Twilight Zone” with her pal Sifert.
"It kills me that this is killing her," says Sifert.
But thankfully for the American, she does have many allies around her, including her son, who was one of the many Port Angeles residents who welcomed the Coho in February, with the first Victoria visitors of the year onboard.
Although Iredale has come to Langford to visit her long-term friend, could there be another reason for her trip?
With the price of eggs soaring in the U.S., some Americans have attempted to source their eggs from Mexico and Canada. In fact, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than double the amount of egg products in January and February this year, compared to the first two months of 2024.
“Oh I don’t need to do that,” laughs Iredale. “I have an in-law that has chickens, so I have a source for my eggs, I don’t need to smuggle any.”
The only thing Iredale admits she will be taking back across the border are her birthday presents from Sifert.
“Everything was made in Canada,” says an emphatic Sifert.
