Canadian mystery novelist Louise Penny will no longer do book events in the U.S. in protest against President Donald Trump’s recently announced tariffs on goods imported from Canada.
Penny, known for her series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, a police detective in the fictional town of Three Pines, Quebec, made the announcement in a Facebook post, writing, “I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but given the ongoing threat of an unprovoked trade war against Canada by the US president, I do not feel I can enter the United States. At least not until that economic sword, that could throw hundreds of thousands of Canadians (as well as Americans) into poverty, is removed completely.”
Trump initially announced that he would impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico starting Feb. 1 but later paused implementation for a month. The tariffs were then imposed on March 4, prompting Canada to retaliate with 25% tariffs of their own on U.S. goods.
Penny had planned to launch her next novel, The Black Wolf, at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center—where Trump is now the chair—but will instead hold the event at the National Arts Centre in the Canadian capital of Ottawa on Oct. 28. She said she will not tour the U.S. behind the new novel.
“I am hoping Americans will come to the Canadian events,” she wrote. “You will be welcomed with open arms. As friends. As fellow villagers of Three Pines. Where goodness, and decency, exist.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
