Hang tough brothers and sisters, because things are getting scary, and are going to get pretty ugly for a bit.
Even though I don’t fit the standard mold of money first and ethics later, I am a company owner/operator, and am, in a very tangible and immediate way, responsible for the continued success of the family business I built thanks to the support of our community. (people like YOU!)
In business, there are a few “no win” topics one really should not engage in. This is because you will alienate people regardless of your opinion and those people will not use your services or buy whatever you have to sell. Religion, parenting, and politics are the top three divisive topics that you will never hear me bring up, and not just because I want to sell you honey, but because I prefer peace in the valley so to speak.
However, current events south of the border are causing some justified anxiety in regard to the economy and our sovereignty so I’m going to dip my toe in on this one and hope it won’t be bitten off.
There is a good chance that American tariffs are going to eventually change our lifestyles, and no one really knows (yet!) how impactful they will be or how invasive to families. No one wins in a trade war, and all Canadians are going to suffer to some degree if one starts, and it does look like one is building on the horizon.
We don’t know exactly where the tariffs will be applied, and new ones can be levied tomorrow. Although our government will do it’s best to counter and cushion, we need to apply some pressure of our own.
Buy Local is a well-worn mantra, but anything locally sourced keeps our money here, keeps our economy healthy, and negatively impacts American companies as does supporting Canadian owned companies.
So Canadian Tire and McMunn and Yates instead of Home Depot. Co-Op grocery stores, or Safeway, not Walmart. Buy Canadian whenever you can, travel inside of Canada not across the border, and vote with your wallet.
If you live in or near Winnipeg, then you have a wealth of options for procuring locally sourced items for your day to day. Many of these businesses do everything they can to support local products such as ours, in the hopes that their toil will be appreciated and supported by the community despite the lack of a large advertising budget. Here are only a small handful of our own personal heroes who have done us a tremendous service by including our items in their inventory:
Organic Planet Worker Co-op 🥕
Vita Health 🍏
Pollock's Hardware Co-op 🛠
Jardins St-Léon Gardens 🍅
See all of our amazing retail partners!
Money is the only language understood here, and it’s a game of who can outlast the other. We have a stronger economic base, and more natural resources, so we just need to support each other and get a little patriotic in how we spend our dollars.
Prices may well increase, but If I can buy plastic containers from Alberta to offer a less expensive alternative in the event that glass is suddenly under tariffs, that’s what I’ll do.
We should all looks at ways to adapt, duck, dodge and outlast this storm, and I truly believe we have an advantage here. We are a tenacious, and patriotic people, even though we aren’t out spoken about it. We pull together, and help one another, and we will get past these challenging times together with stronger ties as a result of our shared adversity.
Stop supporting the enablers and the financial backers rooted in the White House. The less you use the products and services of companies like U-Line, Amazon, and Tesla, the better. Companies that support the current U.S. administration don’t like losing market share and it’s one of the few things that they tend to change policy over. Twitter? Migrate to Blue Sky. We are, and so are millions of others 🦋
Facebook? Do you really need to use it that much? Pull back a bit. Change your spending habits, pressure your MPs to push back and push back HARD, because make no mistake, this is a shot across the bow.
Trump keeps spouting off on making Canada the 51st state. People think it’s just all talk, but look at what he has said, and what he is doing NOW that everyone thought was just him being theatrical. A threat on our Canadian Sovereignty is never to be taken lightly in any form, as it emboldens the bullies that make those threats. No resistance? Silence equates consent in the mind of a narcissist, so the response needs to be united and LOUD.
So, buy Canadian, support local businesses first and Canadian ones second. Know that collectively we can and will always as consumers make a difference with our choices. Let’s be an example for other nations under the same threats like Mexico, Greenland and Denmark. Canada: True North Strong and Free isn’t said lightly, or softly.
Stay warm, stay safe, and this too shall pass.