The looming tariff threats are leaving many Manitobans wondering what they can do on a personal level to support our province and country.
One way is to leverage our dollars is to buy Manitoban and Canadian goods.
The provincial government launched its “Support Manitoba, Buy Local” campaign last week to help bolster the local economy.
Premier Wab Kinew said Manitoban consumers can make an impact by how they choose to spend their money.
“These past few weeks have made it clear that we need to diversify our economy and trading partners,” he said, “and buying Manitoban or Canadian will help create strong businesses and jobs here in Manitoba.”
Jamie Moses, minister of business, mining, trade and job creation, added that Manitoba’s innovative entrepreneurs create world-class products and food that is enjoyed here and across Canada.
“This campaign will help highlight how Manitobans can connect with Manitoban businesses, products and services as we move to make our economy more resilient to uncertainty posed by tariffs,” he said.
Locally, Stonewall Family Foods continues to add “Made in Canada” and “Locally Produced” shelf markers to help customers navigate which products they’d like to support.
“We think it’s important that everyone tries to shop local. Being a local grocery store, we know the importance of giving back to the community — and the same goes for shopping Canadian. In times like these, we need to strengthen our economy as much as possible,” said Kristle Snell, owner and manager of Stonewall Family Foods.
“We have always tried to carry locally produced products and thus promoted them with locally produced tags. We believe it’s very important to support local independent businesses as much as we can.”
Snell provided some examples of Manitoba businesses that have products for sale at Stonewall Family Foods, including Prairie West Ice Cream, Bliss cookies, Pioneer Meat, Dents Sausage, Interlake Packers, Beatrice, Archie’s Pizza, Naked Oats, Bones & Marrow, Santorini Dairy yogurt, Danny’s Whole Hog, La Cocina Chips, Rede-Made Noodles — and the list goes on.
As for Canada-made products, it can be a little trickier to discern so Family Foods aims to provide some clarity.
“There are many products made in Canada,” Snell said. “Sometimes it’s just harder to identify which, thus why we have decided to get the signage up as quickly as possible.”
Off the top of her head, Snell listed a few companies that make their products in Canada, including Armstrong Cheese, Quaker, Maple Leaf, McCain, High Liner Foods, Gay Lea, Chapman’s and Kicking Horse Coffee, among many more.
So far, the response to their signage efforts has been positive.
“Customers are very appreciative of the current signage and our quick response to get everything labelled correctly, and so we have more Canadian signage on order,” Snell said.
“It’s truly heart-warming to see us, Canadians, sticking up for ourselves when being bullied by our southern neighbour.”
Now that awareness is growing, Snell feels that most people would choose to buy local or Canadian when possible, as long as the price and quality is comparable to American alternatives.
“As for the trend, I hope it would continue, as I believe buying local has so many benefits for our communities to be able to grow,” she added.
“We are extremely proud to be able to support local businesses with getting their products on our shelves. Not only is it local, it’s typically an amazing product to boot.”
To see a list of Manitoban businesses and services, visit www.manitoba.ca/buylocal
