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A cross-border conversation with Québec

Flags for Vermont, Canada and Quebec fly against bare winter trees and a blue sky.
Zoe McDonald
/
Vermont Public
Flags for Vermont, Canada and Quebec fly at Stanstead College in Quebec on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.

Vermonters and Quebeckers share much more than a border. We do business together, get our passports out for vacation, and visit family. But this year, the threads that hold us together have frayed.

On Tuesday, Vermont Edition co-hosted a cross-border conversation in partnership with Radio Noon, a call-in program from the CBC in Quebec. Mikaela Lefrak and Radio Noon host Shawn Apel took calls and emails from listeners on both sides of the border about the current state of U.S.-Canada relations. We also heard about the real-world repercussions of President Donald Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric.

Vermont Public reporter Peter Hirschfeld joined the conversation as well to talk about the effect the Trump administration is having on Canadian tourism in Vermont and how the state's lawmakers are reacting to the increased tensions.

Broadcast live on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Mikaela Lefrak is the host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here & Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Jon has spent his entire adult life working in broadcast journalism. He began his career in Baltimore at WYPR, and has since been a producer for WHYY, Vox, The Majority Report with Sam Seder, and The Talkhouse. Jon is a lifelong recording artist whose projects include Repelican, The Art Department, and Dungeonesse. He lives with his wife in Panton, Vermont.