Niagara Falls, Ont. and Buffalo, N.Y. are sharing the love. Despite the on-going trade war between Canada and the U.S., and rising tensions between the neighbouring countries, the two regions are making thoughtful gestures to show their mutual respect and appreciation. On Friday, Niagara Falls Tourism took out a full-page ad in the Buffalo newspaper, The Buffalo News, inviting American residents to come over to watch the falls get lit up on Saturday by the Buffalo Bills colours — red, white and blue. There will also be a fireworks show featuring the same colours. The event is in response to the Sept. 17 Buffalo Bills home opener game against the Detroit Lions, in which Canadian band Barenaked Ladies was tapped to sing “O Canada”, despite neither team playing being Canadian. “Buffalo, we could hear you singing from here,” the ad reads. “Canadians sang along from the stadium, in sports bars and on couches across the country.” Adam Stiles, interim president and CEO of Niagara Falls Tourism, told CTVNewsToronto.ca on Friday that the event is an opportunity to say thank you for doing something nice for Canadians. “I think that’s sort of just what that neighbourly spirit is really all about,” he said. “So that’s what we wanted to reciprocate back to them. You know, they’re showing us the love. We want to show it back.” He added that there was no reason for that NFL game to include the Canadian national anthem, other than the fact they “know they have a large Canadian fan base and they have thousands of fans that drive over every single home game.” In September, Kate Husman, chief strategy officer for the Buffalo Bills, told CTV News that 12 per cent of Bills season ticket holders are Canadian. The organization also estimates between 15 and 20 per cent of fans at home games are Canadian. She said including the Canadian national anthem was a “meaningful gesture as a border town, as a neighbour town, to honour those Canadian fans who have supported the Bills for so long.” Stiles said when it comes to a human-to-human level, both sides share a lot in common. “We’ve had a lot of history,” he said. “We share a river. We’ve shared experiences. We’ve got family members on both sides of the border. We continue to draw on that connection on that personal level and just wanted to say thanks for doing something nice for us.”
