Wednesday, May 15, 2024
    ADVT 
    National

    #BuyCanadian: Pocketbook Patriotism Takes Off Amid U.S. Trade Tensions

    Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Jun, 2018 11:42 AM
      Social media users are pledging to #BuyCanadian amid a simmering trade standoff with the U.S., but experts say pocketbook patriotism may have unintended consequences on both sides of the border.
       
       
      Bonnie Hallman of Winnipeg says she cancelled a long-desired trip to Alaska shortly after President Donald Trump took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for pushing back against American tariffs on steel and aluminum.
       
       
      The 53-year-old says she's now booked to visit P.E.I. next summer because she would rather spend her dollars towards supporting Canadian tourism.
       
       
      Scott Chamberlain, a father of four in Ottawa, says he's been trying to fill his grocery cart with mostly homegrown goods to bolster the Canadian producers who could be hardest hit by cross-border friction over trade.
       
       
      Robert Wolfe, a professor emeritus at Queen's University's School of Policy Studies, says the #BuyCanadian movement could fan the flames of a trade war in which no side would prevail unscathed.
       
       
      He says the mirror of 'buy Canadian' is 'buy American,' which could have a detrimental impact on Canadian companies trading in the U.S. market.
       
       
      "If it starts to escalate the Canada-U.S. tensions so that Americans begin to think we're actually just mad at them, as opposed to mad at their president, that could be difficult for Canada-U.S. relations, and ultimately, not good for the economy."
       
       
      Food economist Mike von Massow of the University of Guelph says a show of Canadian fiscal solidarity may buttress the country's position in trade negotiations, but swearing off American-made products is easier said than done.
       
       
      An online poll conducted by Abacus Data between June 1 to 6 — after Trump said he would impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel but before trade tensions erupted at last week's G7 summit in Quebec — found that more than half of 2,200 Canadian surveyed reported that they intend to avoid buying U.S. wines and cross-border shopping.
       
       
      The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
      Prev Next

      MORE National ARTICLES

      Calgary Woman Sentenced To Life In Prison For 2nd-Degree Murder Of 78-Year-Old Mother

      Calgary Woman Sentenced To Life In Prison For 2nd-Degree Murder Of 78-Year-Old Mother
      A Calgary woman has admitted to stabbing her mother multiple times and throwing her down a flight of stairs in the 78-year-old's home.

      Calgary Woman Sentenced To Life In Prison For 2nd-Degree Murder Of 78-Year-Old Mother

      Don't Call 911 If Your Pizza Isn't Ready On Time, Provincial Police Say

      Don't Call 911 If Your Pizza Isn't Ready On Time, Provincial Police Say
      Starvation can be a life or death matter, but police in eastern Ontario say a woman's recent complaint about the wait time for her pizza order doesn't quite qualify.

      Don't Call 911 If Your Pizza Isn't Ready On Time, Provincial Police Say

      Mom Sparks Debate By Detailing Daughter's 'Extreme' Punishment On Social Media

      Mom Sparks Debate By Detailing Daughter's 'Extreme' Punishment On Social Media
      A Newfoundland mom is being both praised and panned for what some say are extreme measures to punish her daughter for apparent bullying behaviour — and then discussing it all on social media.

      Mom Sparks Debate By Detailing Daughter's 'Extreme' Punishment On Social Media

      B.C. Aims To Recycle Difficult Plastic: Six-pack Rings, Chip Bags, Crinkly Wraps

      B.C. Aims To Recycle Difficult Plastic: Six-pack Rings, Chip Bags, Crinkly Wraps
      A British Columbia non-profit group has launched a pilot project to start collecting some of the toughest plastics to recycle such as potato chip bags, zipper-lock sandwich bags and six-pack rings.

      B.C. Aims To Recycle Difficult Plastic: Six-pack Rings, Chip Bags, Crinkly Wraps

      Banff Town Council Bans Smoking And Vaping Cannabis In Public Places

      Banff Town Council Bans Smoking And Vaping Cannabis In Public Places
      Council has decided to limit the use of marijuana to private property in the small mountain town that attracts a large number of international tourists and has a reputation as a place to get a "Rocky Mountain high."

      Banff Town Council Bans Smoking And Vaping Cannabis In Public Places

      First-Degree Murder Charges Laid In 2010 Double Homicide Near Cranbrook, B.C.

      First-Degree Murder Charges Laid In 2010 Double Homicide Near Cranbrook, B.C.
      Officers were called to a rural residence near Cranbrook in May 2010, and found 43-year-old Leanne MacFarlane dead and 42-year-old Jeffrey Taylor in critical condition.

      First-Degree Murder Charges Laid In 2010 Double Homicide Near Cranbrook, B.C.

      PrevNext