“I Shop Canada” movement gains support across country
A major Canadian union is urging all Canadians to stand tall, and stand together, in the face of United States protectionism.
At the end of June, appropriately just ahead of Canada Day, Unifor, the country’s largest private sector union, launched a national “I Shop Canada” campaign to promote and increase the purchase of made-in-Canada products and services. The social media campaign is in response to the escalating trade war with the United States and a growing sentiment among Canadian consumers to support homegrown industries.
Unifor national president, Jerry Dias, says the campaign is aimed at bringing Canadians together. “It’s time for Canadians and Canadian workers to fight back and be proud of what we make and say to the United States: ‘We’re going to fight back: We’re not going to take it – we’re going to put forward the products that we make,” he says.
Dias says the campaign has “really taken off ” with Facebook postings of proud Canadians showing off the Canadian-made products they have manufactured or bought. And he says the people involved come from all walks of life. “It’s not just our members, but Canadians in general are posting – union members, nonunionized workers and a lot of people are taking pride in what they’re posting,” says Dias.
With the campaign encouraging Canadians to buy Canadian, Dias says even he has started checking his grocery list twice. “I find myself today watching when I go into a grocery store; I’m more conscious today about Canadian produce. I’m doing things today that, historically, I’ve never done,” he says.
It seems that increasing numbers of Canadians are also making a conscious decision to adjust their buying habits, with Dias citing a survey showing Canadians’ intention to buy fewer American-made products.
Abacus Data, a Canadian polling and market research firm based in Ottawa, found that opposition to the U.S. tariffs is roughly 80 per cent in every part of the country, and that more than 15 million Canadians say they will avoid crossborder shopping, pleasure trips to the States and buying U.S. wines. The research also showed that many Canadians plan to reject products with Made in the USA labels, look for alternatives to U.S. produce, and avoid buying from large U.S. companies such as Wal-Mart, Starbucks and McDonalds.
“So you’ve got Canadians today who are saying: ‘We might be a lot smaller than the United States, but we’re just not going to be pushed around together as a nation and we’re going to show Canadian pride,” Dias says.
He points out that these kinds of national support campaigns are pervasive in the U.S. “If you watch the U.S., they have Buy American campaigns all the time. They’re these flag wavers,” he says. Even the American unions support the current trade positions taken by Donald Trump. “The American workers are supporting his position. The U.S. unions are solidly behind (President) Trump. It’s unbelievable to watch the labour leaders in the United States siding up with Trump.”
It’s time, Dias says, for us to do the same. “As American workers and American unions are supporting Trump’s initiatives, Canadian workers and Canadian unions need to stand for Canadian workers and that’s what this is all about. This is about Unifor standing hand in hand with Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” Dias says.
While he believes the U.S. president’s actions are mainly political, with the mid-term elections coming up in November, Dias says, here in Canada, the need to buy Canadian is largely economic. In its news release announcing the social media campaign, Unifor lists the benefits of buying Canadian-made products and services, including stimulation of the economy, creating employment, the purchase of high quality goods and even helping the environment by buying locally.
Dias says Unifor is pleased with the response to the social campaign and believes Canadians will, indeed, respond to the challenge to support Canadianmade products and serve. “You’re going to see an increase in so much,” he says.
“As Canadian workers, we need to stick together; as Canadians we need to stick together. This is really about PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES us supporting each other.”
The “I Shop Canada” campaign urges Canadians to take a picture of their favourite made-in-Canada purchase. Workers in Canada’s manufacturing sector are also invited to take a “selfie” with their colleagues. Share the photos on social media using the #IShopCanada hashtag and visit the “I Shop Canada” Facebook page. Photos can also be emailed to the communications department at IShopCanada@unifor.org.