Campaign looks to certify businesses that source products made in Alberta

Organizers of a new campaign are hoping to convince Albertans to buy more locally sourced and produced items.

The Alberta Verified program will work with businesses to add logos beside menu items, on packaging and online to indicate that products originated in the province.

“This is just a really positive program, a non-partisan program, that allows businesses and consumers to recognize when businesses are buying and hiring in Alberta,” said Peter Downing, Alberta Verified’s Edmonton co-ordinator.

“It’s not like we’re doing boycotts or anything like that. It’s the opposite — something really positive to support Alberta business and Alberta labour for it to continue to grow and have a strong and prosperous Alberta.”

Businesses can display the Alberta Verified logo and be listed on a directory by meeting with program coordinators to confirm their company is eligible and paying $50 per business location, said Craig Chandler, the executive director

of Alberta Verified.

No businesses have been signed up yet because organizers didn’t expect significant attention before their planned Sunday launch.

“We got kind of caught with our pants down, not realizing how quick it would take off,” Chandler said.

Alberta Verified hosted a number of events across the province on Sept. 1 — the anniversary of the day that Alberta became a province — to promote its program.

In the Edmonton area, the group held a get-together at the Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku. Downing said Alberta’s birthday should be celebrated much like Canadians celebrate July 1 each year.

“We live in the best province in Canada with the best people, the best industry and the best labour,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you want to celebrate it?”

Both Downing and Chandler have a history of partisan and sometimes controversial political activism.

Downing is currently the leader of Wexit Alberta, a group championing Alberta separatism. Chandler was ousted from the Alberta Progressive Conservative party’s board in 2016 after he suggested the Earls restaurant chain “supports terrorists” in the wake of that company switching to an American beef supplier that offered halal products.

Still, the pair insists that Alberta Verified isn’t partisan in nature. Downing adds that he invited all MLAS in the province to participate in the Sept. 1 events.

“This is about Alberta, Alberta’s businesses and the people who live here,” he said.