‘W. Roger Worth

Two years ago, Sydney,
N.S; businessman Harry Web-
ber developed a program
called Atlantic Plus, an at-
tempt to convince consum-
ers and retailers to purchase
locally produced goods, cre-
ating jobs in the region.

A year later, both the On-
tario and federal govern-
ments enthusiastically back-
‘ed schemes to promote Cana-
dian products, pointing out
that consumer spending on
Canadian made goods could
help reduce the nagging un-
employment problem.

Other provinces backed
various schemes to a greater
or lesser degree.

The result: Ottawa's “Buy
Canadian” program, after a
slow start and a helpful as-
sist from a devalued Cana-
dian dollar, finally seems to
be having a positive impact
in the marketplace.

“The momentum is still
building but we're already a
minor success,” says Jeff
Smith of the federal Depart-
ment of Industry, Trade &

Roger Worth is Director,
Public Affairs,
Canadian Federation of
Independent Business.

Commerce. “A recent study
indicates awareness for Ca-
nadian made products has in.
creased dramatically during
the last year.”

Smith's department acts
as an umbrella organization,
co-ordinating the efforts of
government and private sec-
tor organizations pressing
Canadians to buy goods pro-
duced in this country.

For years, through a vari-
ety of incentives, Canadians
have been pushed to buy
made-in-Canada goods. But
this is the first time, it seems,
that a concerted effort has
been made to tackle the prob-
lem head-on, at the emotion.
al level.

“ ‘WEDDING: BELLS will - ring May 125 for Lynda ;

Egleston of West Vancouver, who is to marry Thomas
* Roy. Blackstock, son' of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon
| —~ Blackstock—-of-Pemberton._Lynds, t .
_ Memorial Hospital, Williams Lake, attended Hiliside

,apd West Van Secondary School before -training at
( VGH, and her mother is Municipal Clerk of North

Vancouver District. The 7 p.m. wedding will take
place in the Calvery Tabernacle, Williams Lake, where
the bride and groom will reside. °

Mainstream Canada

a SIWESe

ae

| _ | | Page 33, March 21, 1979 - North Shore News

Going jogging? _
Here is the special.

Novel approach works

Canadians are now being
told through advertising, la-
beling systems and other low-
key promotions that buying
Canadian made products is
worthwhile, and why.

The devalued Canadian
dollar, of course, has helped
spur interest, making Cana-
dian goods dramatically more
price competitive. Smaller
Japanese made cars, for ex-
ample, that sold for less than
$4,000 two years ago, are
now worth $5,200 or more,
mainly because of devalua-
tion.

Meanwhiile, Ottawa and
many of the provinces are re-
assessing purchasing policies
with a view to increasing Ca-
nadian content without ruf-
fling the feathers of the coun
try’s major trading partners.

At the federal level, for
example, it appears the De-
partment of Supply &. Ser-
vices, which already buys

about 80% of its-needs from

Canadian based firms, is mov-
ing a step down, attempting
to expand access for smaller
firms seeking sub-contracts
from the big suppliers.

For people like Ottawa's
Jeff Smith and Sydney's
Harry Webber, the total num-
ber of jobs created because
consumers turn to Canadian
made goods is almost unim-
portant: What's fundamental
to them is not overall statis-
tics, but the fact that some-
thing is being done about the
problem.

“We have to have confi-
dence in ourselves, that’s
what matters,” says Webber,
a graduate lawyer who runs
the family's retail clothing
business m Sydney.

His view differs little
from that of Smith who
says: “What we're concerm-
ed about is improving the
consumer attitude toward
local products, be they made
regionally or nationally. Just
as long as the goods are Ca-
nadian made.”

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MARCH 31. 1979