Northern Ontario towns and cities try to buy Canadian, but it's not always easy

In early March, the small northern Ontario town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands passed a buy Canadian motion that would direct staff to purchase Canadian-made goods "when possible."

The motion was a response to tariff threats against Canada from the United States and the ongoing trade war that has ensued.

"We drafted a motion at the council meeting to push us in that direction and to indicate to our constituents that we were going to join the battle, so to speak, against those tariffs," said Mayor Alan MacNevin, whose municipality includes Little Current. 

But MacNevin said despite intentions for the town to avoid American products and services whenever possible, it can't always be done.

"[For] things like fire trucks and garbage trucks, often the manufacturers for certain parts of those vehicles come from the U.S.," he said.

"Generally speaking, in a small community like ours, there wouldn't be a lot of situations where that happens, but [it's] mostly major purchases for those kinds of things."

Cities and towns across northeastern Ontario are grappling with their procurement contracts as many make efforts to cut out American products and services to support Canada's broader defiance of current and proposed tariffs.

In Elliot Lake, councillors debated whether or not the city should go ahead with purchasing a $205,000 shade structure for a waterfront park that was manufactured in the U.S. ultimately deciding to go ahead with the contract.

Deputy Mayor Charlie Flintoff said that while the parts for the shelter would be made in the U.S., the city's contract is with a company based in Paris, Ont., called ABC Recreation, that will be installing the structure.

"It's complicated for probably every municipality out there," Flintoff said.

"Do we just stop doing business? Do we not go forward with our strategic plan? Let's say something broke at a water treatment plant and we needed to order a part from the U.S., are we not going to order the part?"

So it's been very tricky.- Tyler Hannemann, general manager, Canoe

The City of Elliot Lake used a procurement system from a not-for-profit organization called the Canoe Procurement Group of Canada to choose its shade structure.

Canoe acts as a one-stop-shop for municipal procurement and can save time and money because many projects are pre-approved. For example, if Elliot Lake went ahead with its own request for proposals for the sun shelter, it would require plans from an engineer before going to tender.

Tyler Hannemann, Canoe's general manager, said the municipalities that use their services are now asking more questions about suppliers in an effort to buy Canadian.

"So it's been very tricky," he said.

"I would say, you know, across Canada, a lot of municipal governments have questions and are looking at supporting local and, and looking at who they're using and what contracts they have in place."

But Hannemann said even purchasing something as straightforward as tires for a municipal fleet can present challenges if the goal is to buy Canadian.

"So in our tire program for instance, we have Michelin Tire, which is a French company that has manufacturing operations in Canada," he said.

"But we also have Goodyear. That's an American company and it has manufacturing in the states. It has manufacturing in Argentina [and] Asia as well."

Hannemann said Canoe also works with Canadian suppliers such as Kal Tire and Fountain Tire that carry brands from around the world.

Concessions at Sault arenas go Canadian

In Sault Ste. Marie — which has been hit by U.S. tariffs on its local steel production —  municipal arenas are moving away from American food options for concessions.

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said the city is looking at other areas to buy Canadian, such as purchasing new fire engines made in Manitoba.

But he added the city will never be able to fully divest itself of American products or suppliers.

"The supply chain for the last 80 plus years has become so integrated that to disintegrate it would take an equivalent amount of time," Shoemaker said.

"Yes, we're going through our trade disagreements at the moment, largely driven by one individual whose every whim is being acquiesced by his party. But there will be a restoration of normal relationships between the two countries. I'm confident of that."

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says tariffs could increase municipal infrastructure costs by $1 billion on nearly $50 billion in planned expenditures over the next two years.

"Municipalities can use the 2.1 per cent municipal capital cost increase to help inform decisions on upcoming contracts," the organization said.