While both the U.S. and Canada agreed on Monday to pause implementation of new tariffs on imports and exports for 30 days, Collingwood council decided to move forward with an effort to buy Canadian more often, calling the U.S. threat of tariffs “economic warfare.”
During their meeting on Feb. 3, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin put forward a motion to have the town only purchase Canadian products when practical, and have staff investigate and report back on further purchasing practices so Collingwood can prioritize buying Canadian moving forward.
“We, as a town, buy a lot of things everyday,” she said.
“I’m sure all of us have been glued to the media for the past few days as we’ve seen the threat of significant tariffs against our businesses in Canada,” said Hamlin. “We have a lot of businesses in Collingwood that employ a lot of people that have markets in the U.S.”
Also as part of the motion, the town is encouraging Collingwood residents and businesses to buy products made in Canada whenever possible, and staff will convene an economic development roundtable meeting as soon as possible with members of Collingwood’s manufacturing and business community to discuss the impact of incoming tariffs further.
“I’m thinking next week so we can let this week unfold and see what will come to pass between our governments,” said Hamlin.
Coun. Kathy Jeffery said she was in favour of the motion.
“I think this is great. I’m unsure of how this will impact our procurement bylaw and how able we are to bypass that, even in such circumstances,” she said.
The town’s procurement manager Michael Trueman said the town would need to take a look at the town’s current procurement bylaw, and some amendments might be necessary before the town could proceed.
“The bylaw is our main document. We think we can bring something forward in the short term, and there are things we could investigate in the long-term as well,” he said.
Coun. Deb Doherty noted that both the federal and provincial governments are also looking at adjusting their procurement rules in response to the tariffs.
“Any amendment we can make to our purchasing bylaw to make sure we’re purchasing Canadian products first, as we can, will benefit the municipality in the short and long term. We’re bolstering Canadian businesses,” said Doherty.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion. Coun. Christopher Baines and Coun. Steve Perry were absent.