Columnists
Protecting local
I don’t often visit the Quinte Mall, but it seems every time I do, I run into someone I know from the County. Each time the same thing happens; we smile sheepishly at each other, say hello and find a good excuse for being in Belleville, to say nothing of shopping in the city.
I live on the outskirts of the city—I have for a year now—but I still feel that same County pride that pulled me into its clutches in the first place. When I buy local, I’m buying from Books & Company or the PEC T-Shirt Company, eating at East and Main or the Vic Café, getting my food from farm stands on County roads and Pierson’s Foodland.
But it’s evident from the folks I run into at the mall that it’s not always possible to get everything you want in Prince Edward County. It’s possible, to be sure. There’s every manner of service, there’s clothing, food, building materials. But sometimes the prices don’t match your budget. Sometimes the clothes just aren’t your style. Sometimes the one thing you just gotta have is just across the bridge.
And is that so bad? To be sure, folks from the Greater County Area—Napanee, Tyendinaga, Belleville and Quinte West—are heading across the bridge for some of the things they just can’t find in their cities and towns. Once, while I was travelling, I stopped at a gift shop to buy a souvenir for a friend who had requested something from the country I was visiting. I chose a mug, something simple, small and easy enough to pack in a suitcase. But when I returned to Canada and peeled off the price tag to prepare the gift for giving, I was dismayed to see the words ‘Made in China’ surreptitiously scrawled beneath.
The fact is, despite the County’s physical geography, none of us are islands. There is benefit to the give and take of cross-border shopping, whether that’s crossing the bridge to shop at Old Navy or heading to the US for some tech gear; whether it’s buying Japanese cars or French cheeses, the thing that makes it all worthwhile is the reciprocity. The County’s goods bring cash flow because strangers bring cash. And yes, some of that will leave, but that’s how the cycle continues.
When a community—or a country—turns inward, turns toward economic protectionism, they are either highlighting the folly of their ideology or sorely losing out on the benefits of international trade.
For the US, it looks more like the former. Sure, it’s possible to highlight and celebrate the things made within the borders, as that country did earlier this week with Made in America Day. But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Americans can’t, or at least don’t want to, live without what they can only get from outside their borders. It’s the reason NAFTA renegotiations have begun, when the US president had initially declared he’d scrap them. It’s the reason why the president has defended his family company’s foreign manufacturing practices.
But when I hear and feel the sentiment in the County about buying local, I can understand where the impulse for protectionism comes from.
So don’t be sheepish if you ever run into me at the Quinte Mall. Sure, it’s not the classiest place to shop, and of course we know about all the wonderful stores in the County. But it’s ok to stop in at Sam the Record Man or Winners. The economy can handle that.
Comments (0)