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Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Booze protest costs small price to pay to send Trump a message
Opinion Apparently, this is the cost of sticking to our collective guns. A freedom of information request filed by a former leader of the Manitoba Green party found out Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is in possession of $3.4 million in unsold wine, spirits and beer from the United States. The booze — which includes product pulled from Liquor Mart shelves and product that was ordered and on the way here — marks the front line in Manitoba's war with U.S. President Donald Trump. Canadian whisky is advertised at a Liquor Mart in March while black plastic covers the U.S. whiskey section. The Manitoba government ordered American products removed from Liquor Marts in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. (Tim Smith / The Brandon Sun files) Most government-owned liquor stores and some private wine and spirit companies across the country rushed to pull U.S. alcohol off its shelves in February after Trump threatened us with crippling tariffs and mused one too many times about bringing Canada into the union as the 51st state. The cost of this protest was never discussed with the public. The premiers who ordered the alcohol to be removed — including Manitoba's Wab Kinew and Ontario's Doug Ford — hardly stopped to discuss the fiscal implications while they were gleefully ordering government liquor commission workers to strip the shelves of Jack Daniel's bourbon and Napa Valley wines. But we all had to know there was a cost. In Manitoba, the up-front cost is $3.4 million. That is, of course, just a fraction of the retail value. For example, Manitoba marks up wine by 95 per cent. So, $1 million in wine represents nearly $2 million in lost sales, and significant tax revenue. Remember, all net profits from the Manitoba Liquor and Lottery Corporation go directly into the province's general revenue. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, that added up to a whopping $732 million. Based on the total transfer — which also includes profits from lottery and gaming — you could easily dismiss the loss of $3 million as chump change. But it's still lost revenue. The only remaining question is — is $3.4 million a fair price to pay for the political dividends derived from hauling U.S. alcohol off Manitoba shelves? To date, the answer is absoposilutely. The fact is that Canadians started looking for ways to avoid buying American products well before Canadian politicians got in on the action. The militant Shop Canadian campaign was organic and extremely effective. So much so that just about every good and service in this country that can lay tenuous claim to being Canadian has engaged in concerted red washing, draping their offerings with Canadian flags and slogans. How committed are we to continuing the various boycotts? Depends on which boycott you're talking about. Government liquor stores are boycotting U.S. booze, it appears that private stores never started. A quick and totally unscientific survey of Winnipeg wine stores shows that most are still selling a wide variety of U.S. wines online. And if they're selling it, it's likely because many of us are still buying it. That suggests that the longer it goes on, the more we will find a way of sneaking a bottle of American Pinot Noir now and again. Other aspects of the Canadian 'elbows up' protest movement seem to show no signs of weakening. A Manitoba Liquor Mart shelf encouraging Canadian alternatives to U.S. liquor. (Chris Kitching / Free Press files) On the travel front, Canadians have sent Trump a very strong message. More than a quarter of all tourist visits to the U.S. come from Canada, and last year, we spent more than $20 billion south of the border. Trump's new-age manifest destiny and his tariff threats have driven down road-trip visits by nearly 40 per cent, and air travel by about a quarter. The industry estimates that every 10 per cent loss in visits by Canadians translates into $2 billion less revenue for hospitality businesses. What does the future hold for the channels of the boycott? Boycotts of food and alcohol will eventually lose their bite. The bigger concern for U.S. producers is whether Canadians learn to drink wine from other regions of the world and simply do not want or need to go back to American products. The food boycott seems headed in the same direction. Don't be surprised if, come December, we drop our elbows long enough to stuff some California strawberries into our berry holes. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. On travel, there are signs the boycott will continue longer, and have longer-lasting impacts. Discovering new places and new ways of getting there could very easily curb our appetite for U.S. visits. At least, until the U.S. industry starts offering travel deals that Canadians simply cannot refuse. (Are you listening Walt Disney Co.?) Which brings us back to $3.4 million in unsold alcohol in Manitoba. In the midst of a still-simmering trade war with the U.S., should we be fretting the government's decision to pull that much booze from Manitoba shelves? The quick answer is 'no.' Very little of this product will go bad. Which means, like good wine and whiskey, it's a protest that will only get better with age. Dan LettColumnist Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan. Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
21-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Want to buy Canadian? There's an app for that
Social Sharing Picture this: You're wandering around the grocery store, trying to buy Canadian. That carton of blueberries is a no go — and that loaf of bread doesn't make the cut, either. The juice you wanted to buy was made in Canada … using imported ingredients. Wouldn't it be great if your phone could just magically tell you whether the products you want to buy are Canadian or not? Well, now it can — thanks to savvy entrepreneurs across the country who've created apps meant to help shoppers identify the origin of everyday staples. There's Shop Canadian, the brainchild of two software developers in Edmonton; Buy Beaver, which was dreamt up by two Montreal entrepreneurs; O SCANada, created by a mother and son in Calgary; and Maple Scan, an AI-powered tool made by a Calgary researcher. All four apps have a feature that lets shoppers scan an item's barcode to determine how Canadian it is. "We saw on social media a lot of different lists of products being shared. They were not always correct, so we thought we had to find a way to centralize all of this information," said Alexandre Hamila, one of the co-creators of Buy Beaver. After a user scans the barcode of a product, the Buy Beaver app rates how Canadian the product is on a scale of one to five based on several criteria: where it's made, where the ingredients or materials are from and who owns the brand. "Right now, everything is community-driven," explained Christopher Dip, the app's other co-creator. "So if you can scan a product and it says it's not rated yet, then you are able to rate it and give your own info. And as more people vote, we expect the scores to get more and more accurate. "If the product's properly labelled, you technically don't need our app. But you might need our app to know if the parent company is an American one or not. Some people might argue that even if it's a product of Canada and it's supporting Canadian jobs, if the profits go back to the U.S., then that might be something to consider," added Dip. "But we just give that info to the community, and they can make a decision if they want to buy that product or not." Like Dip and Hamila, the Edmonton-based creators of Shop Canadian say they were inspired by a growing movement to buy Canadian — one that emerged in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats against this country. "We were in our kitchen, and I was trying to figure out if what I was eating was Canadian and I had to jump through several hoops," said William Boytinck, who developed Shop Canadian with his business partner, Matthew Suddaby. "And eventually I came up with the idea." WATCH | Meet the app creators making it easier to Buy Canadian: Apps to make buying Canadian easier pop up in patriotism push 6 days ago Duration 2:00 Apps to make buying Canadian products at the grocery easier are showing up across the country with entrepreneurs crowdsourcing information about the origins of materials and ingredients. The duo's "wildest dream" was to keep a few hundred dollars in Canada, but the app has since blown up, and now relies on crowdsourced information. It searches through a database of company-registered product codes, and then shows the user whether the brand that made the product is registered in Canada, the U.S. or elsewhere. There are still a few kinks to work out, especially as high traffic leads to technical difficulties. Plus, Boytinck and Suddaby are trying to decide how purist the app will be in determining whether something is Canadian or not. "If it's imported by a Canadian company and packaged in Canada, sometimes we'll recognize it as Canadian," said Boytinck. Retailers hearing demands for Canadian products When the economy gets tough or the supply chain is disrupted, people pay more attention to where their money is going, said Michael Mulvey, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. The "Buy Canadian" apps that have recently cropped up are "a way to make a more educated consumer, a more demanding consumer," he said, adding that a crowdsourcing approach used by the likes of Buy Beaver and Shop Canadian also helps people feel more engaged during times of crisis. WATCH | Buy Beaver co-creators talk buying Canadian amid tariff tensions: Co-founders of Buy Beaver app talk about buying Canadian amid tariff tensions 7 days ago Duration 6:11 Alexandre Hamila and Christopher Dip speak to CBC News Network about their effort to help Canadians find locally made products. Correction: This video has been updated to remove footage showing the incorrect app. "Often people feel sort of helpless when all the world's spinning around them, and this is a way for them to take action and have a voice," said Mulvey. "And I think that's a positive thing in democracy." There could be a trade-off between the consumer's preferred product and the one that costs less to buy, adds Mulvey. People might have to look at their wallets and decide if they want to pay the voluntary tax presented in front of them, and "there's going to be a lot of people who just can't afford to partake at this moment." Will brands and retailers take the hint? At the very least, the demand for these tools might force companies to listen. Loblaws, for example, is already showcasing products made in Canada in stores, online and in flyers, the grocery giant's spokesperson Catherine Thomas recently told The Canadian Press. And Pierre St-Laurent, chief operating officer of Sobeys and Safeway owner Empire, said customers are asking where products come from. The grocer is responding with more signage and information to help them make their picks. "Retailers — if there's demand by customers to find Canadian goods, which there seems to be — I think it's in their interest to help them find those goods and help their search processes," said Mulvey.
CBC
08-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Q&A: App helps shoppers buy Canadian one barcode at a time
Canada and the U.S. have avoided a trade war — for now. A 30-day armistice was reached before steep tariffs on imports came into effect in both countries. During the buildup, however, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to check item labels to ensure they purchase Canada-made products. A pair of Edmonton entrepreneurs, Matthew Suddaby and William Boytinck, have created an app called Shop Canadian to help with just that. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you guys get together on the app? Boytinck: Matt and I met in high school, originally, close to eight years ago, and currently work together as software developers. I came up with this idea [last] weekend. I messaged him, and [we] started building it just then and there … I think, like everyone, we've been caught up in this sort of patriotic wave, and I think everyone also wants to support local — us included. So that was the original motivation. How does it work? Suddaby: It's really simple. All you have to do is pull out your phone, find a barcode, scan it and it will show you the results. Right now, it will look at a database of company registrations for product codes and then it will show you if that company is registered in Canada, the U.S., or elsewhere. Boytinck: We access sort of a standardization organization and that's where we can pull these barcodes from. That'll give us company registrations — among other data — and that's what we use to filter by. Have you got any feedback at all yet? Boytinck: A lot. Over the past 24 hours, we've received hundreds of suggestions, hundreds of messages, lots of support — which is blown up far beyond what we ever expected. Right now, it's a little overwhelming, but we're doing our best to to make it better, to make it more accessible for people and keep it simple and fast and easy to use. We've had people come on the show to talk about these things in the past. Often when you put it out there, there are a few bugs in the system that you might not have known about until people start using it. Have you noticed that yet at all? Boytinck: We're dealing with one issue right now, which is part of the reason why we're starting to crowdsource — sometimes it's really hard to identify exactly how Canadian a company is. For example, if it's imported by a Canadian company and packaged in Canada, sometimes we'll recognize it as Canadian. We're having a few problems, right now, with just the amount of traffic we're having, and the organization that we pull [data] from is starting to slow us down a little bit. But we're working on that. How many people have downloaded the app so far? And what do you think the possibility is? Suddaby: We got data from the day before and it was 1,000. At this point, I would say we're probably close to 2,000 [or] 3,000. Boytinck: I don't know [the potential]. As long as people are using it, as long as we can help people shop Canadian, that's the overall goal. It doesn't matter how many people end up downloading it. What's it like to have your own app out there in the world and it's starting to take off like this? Boytinck: It's definitely special having people give you lots of feedback and seeing comments being like, 'Wow, I'm using this. It's already helping.' It's definitely not a feeling we've experienced before. We've gotten lots of feedback, as software developers, for the products we've made before, but nothing on this personal level.
CBC
08-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Supporting local with a new app
With tariffs from the U.S. still a looming threat, Canadians are looking for ways to support the local economy. Two Edmonton entrepreneurs created an app that will make it easier for people to identify Canadian made products. Matthew Suddaby and Will Boytinck are co-founders of the app Shop Canadian.
