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Why Now is the Time to Buy Local

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Ban on ‘red-state’ liquor sees booze removed from Island shelves, as consumers urged to shop local

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by Ethan Morneau, CHEK News
February 2, 2025 3:54 pm

Government-run liquor retailers in B.C. have begun removing select U.S.-shipped booze from store shelves, putting “Buy Canadian Instead” posters in their place.

Sunday afternoon, whisky brands like Jack Daniel’s and Bulleit Frontier were no longer on sale at the BC Liquor Stores’ Fairfield location in Victoria after B.C. Premier David Eby directed such shops to stop buying alcohol from Republican-run “red states.”

Top-selling “red-state” brands must also be removed from the shelves of public liquor stores across the province, Eby announced Saturday.

The premiers of Ontario and Quebec say they’re following suit.

Eby said the move was part of “immediate counter-measures to stand up for B.C.’s workers and businesses” following U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to hit Canada with 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 per cent on energy.

The B.C. premier called Trump’s tariffs “a complete betrayal of the historic bond between our countries and a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally…”

The move is an “unprecedented attack,” added Eby.

So he’s encouraging people to shop locally — including the B.C. government and Crown corporations, directing them to buy Canadian goods and services first.

“This is a very important message,” said Amy Robinson.

Robinson, who founded the non-profit LocoBC in 2009, does research and campaign work around the importance of local, independent businesses.

She tells CHEK News it’s crucial to support such retailers, now more than ever, “because the tariffs may send us into an economic tailspin…”

Robinson adds, “Locally owned businesses are much more likely to buy products and services from other local businesses, so it keeps the money recirculating in the community. It’s important to our economy. Economically, the profits stay local.”

IslandGood.ca is another website that helps people find products produced locally “to give (these businesses) a competitive advantage,” said Julie Sperber, CEO of the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance, which operates the non-profit.

“There are provincial and national brand recognition platforms. Buy BC is a good example, and even the Made in Canada stamp,” Sperber told CHEK News.

“But Island Good brings it one step closer to home. It helps them get that vantage point of being recognizable and having people be able to see their products clearly when they’re making their choices picking products off the shelves.”

Eby added that additional measures are under consideration by B.C. and could be introduced “in the coming days and weeks.” His full announcement is here.

The White House says Trump’s tariffs look to hold Canada “accountable to (its) promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show less than one per cent of all fentanyl seized comes from the northern border, notes The Canadian Press.

Nationally, to combat the new American levies, Ottawa is imposing 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion worth of goods originating in the U.S. This includes products ranging from meat and milk to carpets and curtains, the feds announced Sunday.

The first phase of Canada’s response will include tariffs on $30 billion in goods imported from the U.S., effective Feb. 4, when the U.S. tariffs are applied.

“Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada. Check the labels. Let’s do our part,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on X Sunday.

“Wherever we can, choose Canada.”

How to spot local products?

Robinson weighs in for in-store shoppers.

“If you’re in a grocery store, reading the label, and if you have a smartphone … Google is your friend, all the search engines you can use,” she said.

“One of the reasons we started the BC Buy Local campaign is because we have a prominent pink dot that says locally owned, locally grown, locally made, and we wanted to encourage businesses to really promote the fact that they’re local … to make it easier for consumers to find those products.”

Meanwhile, Sperber is staying positive.

“I think that within every sort of challenge, there are those opportunities,” she said in an interview.

“There are going to be a number of producers that are going to be able to be quite nimble and produce the volumes that are going to be more required now that we have tariffs coming on both sides of the border.”

She notes that the motto ‘shop local’ has been “around for a long time,” but now there’s a “reinvigoration of it,” and people may be more inclined to follow through.

“Under the threat of the tariffs going both ways, it just means that we’re levelling the playing field a little bit on cost,” added Sperber.

“We know that locally produced products, with quality ingredients and well-paying jobs, do cost more on the shelves, and now there’s a real opportunity to close that gap … because the pricing is going to be in line.”