What do you think? Are you buying local and Canadian? Or is it just too hard?
What do you think?
Are you buying local and Canadian? Or is it just too hard?
Many of us are seized with the need to seek out and buy Canadian (or at least not American) products in a boycott of U.S.-made products and services. It is symbolic but also undertaken in the hope that it could have a real economic impact. But will it make a difference? And how do you find good, inexpensive Canadian alternatives? And how do you even know if it’s Canadian? Or Canadian enough?
Many questions and no easy answers. Indeed, the concept of “Canadian” seems not at all black and white, but many shades of grey. We need to know that “made in Canada” means at least 50 per cent Canadian, whereas “product of Canada” means at least 98 per cent Canadian. And the weaselly “prepared in Canada” can mean anything from handled, harvested, preserved, processed, tested, treated or slaughtered in Canada and could include, for example, concentrated orange juice from Florida that has had water added to it in Canada. Labels put on by grocery chains may be misleading.
Then there are the larger questions. What about an iconic company like Tim Horton’s owned by an American corporation. Do we deem that Canadian by tradition? Or an American company like Walmart that creates jobs for Canadians. Even the dreaded Amazon employs Canadians.
What about unique American services like Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime? Are we prepared to give those up? Are our kids?
How are we navigating the swampy waters of “buying Canadian?” Tell us what you think.
Many thanks for your thoughts!
