U.S. President Donald Trump’s flip-flopping tariff threats and insistence that Canada will become the 51st state have not gone over particularly well. The threat of a trade war, which has since been paused or at least restricted to certain products, has stoked such intense nationalist sentiment among Canadians that recent polls have found even Quebecers are feeling more love for the country.
Different media outlets have also been reporting that a robust buy-local movement has taken root as our national pride swells. Global News published the results of a commissioned Ipsos poll that found 68 per cent of Canadians surveyed now think less of the United States than they did before Trump set his crosshairs on Canada’s economy and its sovereignty. Two-thirds of those polled said they would be avoiding American-made goods and travel south of the border as well.
There have been numerous calls to boycott popular U.S. brands, and many people have pledged to join the buy-local movement. This is all well and good, but why does it take an economic crisis, or the threat of one, for consumers to look closer to home? Remember the huge spike in demand for local produce in the spring of 2020 when food ran low on grocery store shelves. Quebec farmers increased production to meet ballooning demand, but when borders reopened and our nerves settled, that balloon quickly deflated, and farmers were left facing high levels of debt and inflation while consumers pivoted back to imported produce.
The buy-local movement seems prone to the ebbs and flows we might associate with a fad or gimmick rather than a viable crusade for social change. What our local businesses need right now is not encouragement or other forms of moral support. They need a steady commitment from local consumers to make sure they will still be there for us the next time a crisis hits and buying local becomes a priority once again. Buying local does not need to be strain on the wallet, but buying better, even if it means buying less, is a long-term solution that will strengthen our local economy and our country.
Sarah Rennie