Announcer: Coming to PBS in fall 2040 — Ken Burns Jr.'s 18-hour series "Operation Maple Leaf: New York vs. Canada"!
Narrator: It began in the New York state Capitol in Albany one day in June 2013, when the Legislature voted to allow the dissolution of a previously obscure binational entity called the Peace Bridge Authority. At issue was Gov. Andrew Cuomo's frustration at the authority's deadlock over improvements to a plaza on the New York side of the span over the Niagara River. Few could foresee the dispute would turn into the worst regional conflict since the War of 1812.
New York Gov. Michaela Cuomo: I can remember my father being furious about the way Canada was withholding funds from the project. But that was right around the end of the 2013 legislative session, and he was pretty much furious about everything at that point.
Prof. Martin O'Leary, University of Toronto history department: The next year, the Peace Bridge Authority dissolved. Like a series of dominos, more binational commissions began imploding. Trade across the border ground to a halt. And then a Tim Horton's donut shop at a rest area outside Syracuse was firebombed in the middle of the night.
Narrator: No one was injured, but what became known as "The Bear Claw Incident" aggravated tensions between the nations.
Letter from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (read by Seth Rogan): I'm sure I do not need to remind you, Gov. Cuomo, that according to Canadian statute, all Tim Horton's are considered sovereign territory. Through this and other unfriendly acts, New Yorkers are awakening a sleeping grizzly bear, eh?
Narrator: The Cuomo administration responded by announcing a new ad campaign castigating the Montreal Canadiens' lackluster performance in the 2015 Stanley Cup finals. An economic development drive that used the slogan "Putting the 'Empire' back in Empire State" was seen by Canadians as a provocation. And then ... the maplings began.
Android Alain Kaloyeros, SUNY NanoScale: My human form had just overseen the construction of $5 billion chip-fab near Tonawanda when our technicians detected massive equipment failure all along the production line. Someone had infiltrated the facility and slathered the equipment with maple syrup. The only hard evidence was an empty jug of grade-A amber and a Barenaked Ladies concert T-shirt, both of which you'll now find in the State Museum.
Narrator: After a string of similar guerrilla actions, Cuomo in January 2016 decided to shut down the New York-Canada border, a usurpation of federal authority that the rest of the nation was too wrapped up in the Super Bowl season to notice.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's speech in Ogdensburg, Feb. 10, 2016 (read by Bobby Cannavale): Let the word go forth that New York will defend its borders against any force of arms or sugary condiment! We of the Empire State are a peaceful people — but don't push us, tough guy!
Gov. Michaela Cuomo: It was one of his finest speeches, even though he got kind of shouty at the end. I think it was the very next week that Carl Paladino tried to invade Fort Erie.
Narrator: Once a fierce political rival of Cuomo's, real estate developer Carl Paladino was so moved by the governor's Ogdensburg Address that he and a group of like-minded Buffalonians decided to stage a raid on the Ontario town just across the Niagara River. On the night of Feb. 16, Paladino's men polished off a case of Tyskie Polish Ale before rowing across the frigid waters in the shadow of the barricaded Peace Bridge. The invaders marched a few blocks to a duty-free store, where they liberated several cases of Molson Brador malt liquor and cartons of Rothmans cigarettes. Paladino called the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police barracks and left the message that became known as the Fort Erie Remonstrance.
Paladino, on recording: Yeah, hello? This is Buffalo school board member Carl Paladino. I just wanna say that this is the worst malt liquor I've ever had. Hey, don't mess with New York. (Hangs up.)
Prof. Martin O'Leary: Paladino and his men returned to their boats with the Brador and Rothmans, and began rowing back to the New York side pursued by an RCMP patrol boat. And here's where fate intervened: Somewhere in the middle of the river, they collided.
Narrator: Paladino's men and the Mounties managed to swim to the pilings of the Peace Bridge, and spent the next few hours ministering to each others' injuries and fortifying themselves on malt liquor and moist cigarettes.
RCMP Col. Andrew MacGregor (Ret.): Well, by the time the rescue parties got to us, we were pretty lit. Paladino was tellin' some of the most obscene jokes I'd ever heard. But what with all the laughter and the relief that we weren't dead, we sort of forgot about everything that had happened.
Gov. Michaela Cuomo: The Fort Erie incident marked a step back from the brink. Within a few weeks, my father and Prime Minister Harper had signed the Utica Accords, and the border opened up again. And that's why to this day, all New York schoolchildren honor the name of Carl Paladino.
cseiler@timesunion.com • 518-454-5619 • @CaseySeiler