Support for the ‘Buy Canadian, Buy Local’ wave

Council will offer letters of support to the Chamber of Commerce, Picton BIA and others encouraging residents and businesses to purchase locally-made and Canadian goods and services, wherever possible.

Councillor David Harrison’s motion to ‘Buy Local, Buy Canadian’ was offered at Tuesday night’s council meeting in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariffs on virtually all goods from Canada, with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy products.

Harrison requested the municipality consider any temporary measures that could enable it to prioritize Canadian products and services where feasible.

The resolution is being forwarded to all levels of politicians, all 444 municipalities in Ontario, the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) for endorsement and advocacy.

The trend to support Canadian products, services and businesses has already having an impact, reports the CBC, as citizens are boycotting American products due to the US tariff threats, and stopping travel over the border.

The tariffs were to go into effect Feb. 4 before a 30-day pause was announced last week. However, this week, Trump ordered a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada.

Regarding grocery shopping, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture points out there are a variety of logos that people can look out for when they are shopping to help identify locally grown or made food and farm products.

– Fresh produce, dairy, meat and other Ontario foods often carry the iconic green and white Foodland Ontario logo.
– A blue cow logo certifies 100% Canadian dairy.
– Look for the VQA medallion to ensure the wine is made entirely from Ontario-grown grapes or a product of Ontario or Canada designation on fruit wines.
-You’ll find Ontario or Canada Beef logos on locally produced beef, or the Ontario Corn Fed Beef logo at
restaurants and Loblaws stores.
– Ontario-raised pork will often carry an Ontario Pork logo or the logo of Ontario-based meat processors.
– Egg cartons will display a red maple leaf or the Egg Quality Assurance logo. You’ll find an Ontario Turkey logo on some of those retail products.
– When it comes to flowers and floral products, look for a Pick Ontario logo or the words “Grown in Canada” on a container or tag.
– On processed foods, “Product of Canada” means made in Canada with Canadian ingredients, and “Made in Canada” means final processing took place in Canada – sometimes with local ingredients and sometimes with a mix of domestic and imported ingredients.