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buy windsor, buy canadian the patriotic message in face of trump tariff threats

president donald trump’s america first vow is pushing a...

president donald trump’s america first vow is pushing an increasing number of residents of the great white north to seek out canadian-only products in the face of his trade tariffs campaign.
katie stokes, co-owner of windsor’s whiskeyjack boutique, said those wishing to flex their patriotic purchasing power will be surprised at the array of domestic products and services at local shops and online that can meet their needs while keeping their dollars at home.
“we’ve been doing this for almost six years now, so we’re excited to see everyone catching up to what we were always hyping and promoting and screaming from the rooftops about — how many great products and brands, artists and makers there are within our own country that often get overlooked,” said stokes.
“it’s great to see people expressing an interest and also attempting to get out of their own bubbles and routines to find and source these products and support these brands.
“we’re hoping to be one of those adventures for people locally and across canada when looking for things that are canadian-made.”
stokes, who co-owns the downtown gift and souvenir store with allison mistakidis, said since the first week of january, when the tariff issue began to gain attention, the traffic has doubled on their whiskeyjack website (whiskeyjackboutique.com).
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she said her business belongs to several canadian-made product groups on the internet and in the last two weeks the moderators of those groups have reported having to expand staffing because they’ve doubled or tripled their membership and are growing.
“people are finding these groups,” stokes said. “we’re showing up in a lot more searches.
“we’re trying to stay ahead of the curve, running ads and being really vocal about our mission statement.”
 the whiskeyjack boutique in downtown windsor is shown on monday, feb. 10, 2025.
the whiskeyjack boutique in downtown windsor is shown on monday, feb. 10, 2025. dan janisse / windsor star
for local residents, there are several options to help guide them to finding domestic products, manufacturers and the retailers that carry their canadian products.
tourism windsor essex pelee island’s collection of websites can guide consumers to where to find things such as local fresh vegetables grown year-round, wines and spirits, jewelry, clothing, gifts, foodstuffs and dining options.
among those sites are the all-encompassing we made it (yqgmade.ca) that lists over 180 local businesses and artisans making a variety of goods and foodstuffs.
the w.e. heart local (www.weheartlocal.ca) website lists over 60 locations promoting the farm-to-table concept offering fresh local produce and farm-made products.
for lovers of local adult beverages, there is barrels, bottles and brews trail (barrelsbottlesbrews.ca/) and the epic wineries trail (epicwineries.com/).
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in addition, the websites dineyqg (visitwindsoressex.com/restaurants1) and shopyqg (www.visitwindsoressex.com/shopyqg) can help consumers find the restaurants and shops where many locally produced items can be found.
“buying locally gives you a pride in the place where something is made,” said tourism windsor essex pelee island ceo gordon orr. “it’s increased with the threat of tariffs.
“the other beauty of buying local is you run into the people that make these products.
“there’s a connection of community that you’re doing something positive to support canada and essex county.”
all of the websites can also be accessed from tourism windsor essex pelee island’s main website (visitwindsoressex.com).
while several of the sites were created during the covid pandemic to help local businesses and artisans survive, orr said it also revealed how much local products drive tourism in the region.
“about 90 per cent of people brought here have connections to the area,” orr said.
“it’s locals taking them out to places and events, so educating people where they can find things exclusive to the area has been important.
“we’ve really seen that shift in momentum to supporting local and canada.”
 whiskeyjack boutique co-owners katie stokes, left, and allie mistakidis show some domestic offerings at their windsor store on monday. the downtown shop only offers canadian products.
whiskeyjack boutique co-owners katie stokes, left, and allie mistakidis show some domestic offerings at their windsor store on monday. the downtown shop only offers canadian products. dan janisse / windsor star
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the annual best of windsor essex contest (bestofwindsoressex.ca), which opened for voting february 7, is another way to identify favourite local products and services, orr said.
windsor-essex regional chamber of commerce ceo/president ryan donally, whose organization helped launch programs such as shopyqg, said the chamber doesn’t have any new plans at this time to further push the buy local message.
donally said the chamber is currently focusing more on helping employers plan for the impact of any u.s. tariffs.
“we’ll continue what we’ve been doing to support buying local and making local products,” donally said. “if tariffs are put in place, then we’ll certainly look at new things we can do.”
a more comprehensive list of ontario made products, retailers and manufacturers, including local ones, can be found online at supportontariomade.ca.
created in july 2020 by the canadian manufacturers and exporters (cme), the site lists over 17,000 ontario-made products, 4,500 provincial manufacturers and 550 retailers.
the site is also designed to connect manufacturers and retailers and expand their supply chains.
“we’ve seen a real increase in interest from people in where things are made in the last month,” said cme head dennis darby.
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“we had been averaging 20,000 visitors per month and that has more than doubled to 43,000 in the past month. the tariff issue has made people more conscious of where things are made.”
similar to made in ontario, but on a national scale, is made in canada (madeinca.ca).
darby said consumers’ success in buying domestic goods is going to vary greatly depending on the product.
the food and beverage sector will offer plenty of choice, but there are no canadian companies making home appliances such as fridges, stoves and washers. even with five major automakers manufacturing vehicles in ontario, none of those products contain 100 per cent canadian content.
“what you’ll find is we make a lot of the components that go into those products,” darby said.
“we’re pleased it’s made people think about canadian manufacturing. all the people visiting the site has provided good exposure for a lot of businesses.”
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buying local
here are some websites to help you shop for products made in windsor-essex, ontario and canada.
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