Some Flin Flonners are hoping to have their voices heard in the trade dispute between Canada and the US.
While trade tensions mount between the two sides, people have begun making a conscious decision to either buy Canadian goods first or to avoid American goods altogether.
Tim Spencer made a post on social media promoting buying Canadian during the ongoing trade dispute between the Canadian and American governments.
While bureaucrats bickered and negotiated, Spencer set himself a challenge that day while out grocery shopping.
“I had been shopping that day and had managed to spend a hundred dollars without having anything made in the USA in my cart,” said Spencer.
Dean Martin saw Spencer’s initial social media post and was immediately interested in doing the same.
“I was like, ‘That’s pretty inspiring,’” he said.
“We’ve since been trying our best to do the same. When we go shopping, we’re just trying to identify the stuff that is Canadian and buying that, taking our time looking through everything,” said Martin.
Making the change could mean bringing some changes into the fold for Martin, Spencer and their families.
“We’ve been buying just a little more of some things we already buy. You’re buying vegetables for stir frys and other things for meals – we’re just buying a bit more cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes. They’re all readily available Canadian products. We’ve just been buying a little more of those,” Martin said.
“Especially earlier in the summer here, there’s not much Canadian produce in there yet. There’s some stuff from Chile and Mexico, but all sorts of basic stuff is grown in the United States. Other than doing away with it completely, it’s hard to cope with that,” said Spencer.
Spencer said he had heard from friends living in the United States, who shared support for his idea.
“One of them is a friend of mine in Iowa. He said, ‘We didn’t vote for him. It’s three years to go, and counting.’ It’s more of a general comment of unhappiness,” he said.
There is a point where avoiding American goods is not practical. Spencer said American products are so pervasive in the marketplace that dodging them completely is almost impossible.
“We recently bought a car seat for our grandson. That was made in the US – I couldn’t find one that was made in Canada. I wasn’t going out of my way to look for one, but there’s a lot of stuff like that. There just isn’t another option.”
Neither Martin or Spencer are sure where the situation will go or how much they will focus on buying Canadian.
“It’s kind of early on in this whole thing. I haven’t really decided to go hardcore into it and be really stringent about my purchases but I am more conscious of it. I’m trying to be a little more thoughtful in my purchases,” said Martin.
“There’s a certain powerlessness to this whole thing. You’re just left watching this gong show unfold south of the border and you know there’s lots and lots of people that live down there that are really frustrated with it and angry,” said Spencer.
