Did Trump wake ‘sleeping giant’ of ‘Buy Canadian’? Why some won’t budge
Donald Trump has paused his proposed tariffs, some Canadians vow they have no plans to return to buying American.“I think they’ve awoken a sleeping giant,” said Glenn Naylor of Courtenay, B.C. “We’ve been far too complacent for far too long about being Canadian, and I think what this has done, no matter what the delay is, it’s opened our eyes to (the) need to be more focused on Canada.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this past weekend urged Canadians to pick local over U.S.
options as the country braced for incoming U.S. tariffs, which were set to take effect on Feb.
4. On the afternoon of Feb.
3, Trudeau and Trump announced a 30-day pause.In the time in between, Canadians flocked to social media for help on sourcing Canadian-made goods, and others, like business owners, got rid of American-made products, such as U.S.-imported alcohol.And like Naylor, even with the pause in tariffs, several said they have no plans of returning to buying American unless absolutely necessary.“I think people are so angry that I think this will take off,” said Ann Williams of Ladysmith, B.C.“I think there’s going to be a boycott of American goods. I’m not saying that we can’t or won’t buy American goods, because sometimes that’s the only option, but as far as I’m concerned, I will avoid as much as possible.”Louis Arsenault said looking at labels to check if an item was Canadian was not a focus for him in the past, but now it’s a “different story.”Going forward, he plans to look at labels and focus on buying Canadian, including visiting Moncton stores selling local produce.“I’m a proud Canadian and I want to support anything to get us out of this tariff and we’re going to be buying Canadian as much as possible,” Arsenault said.“As a matter of
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