Eating the Rich: Mm, Tastes Like Freedom

I’ve never been a big fan of patriotism.

I suspect many Canadians feel the same. It’s annoying growing up next door to the “only in America” mantra your whole life, thinking, “Yo, bro, we’re RIGHT HERE and it happens HERE too, so, no, it ain’t you.”

Real talk: Canada has a lot of problems.

Our urban-rural battle for political power continues. We’re still reckoning with Residential Schools, struggling to acknowledge still-prevailing settler-colonial issues. We continue seeking balance in progressing everything we believe in while welcoming new immigrants without putting a strain on the system.

We have problems.

But damn, we’ve got a lot of good to build on.

Is the medical system broken? Sure. But the last family member who died on you, you just grieved ‘em, right? Didn’t get a bill in the mail? That’s good. Let’s keep building on that.

Are there housing issues? Damn right.

But you know what Canada's got that most countries don’t have? The natural resources to solve our housing problem. We’ve got the wood. We’ve got the power. We’ve got the space. We’ve got people literally dying to come here.

Speaking of: Is immigration a problem? Sure. But it’s because of the above two issues. If we had the housing and the medical care available, new immigrants could come here and make more jobs, grow our economy, because you know what? Statistics prove that’s exactly what they do.

Moving to a whole new world is so hard. As a former nomad, I get how intimidating it is in a new country. Even figuring out the postal system can be a day’s adventure.

Setting up in a new land takes courage and resourcefulness, and the people who make their way to Canada bring both. It’s beholden upon us to bring the best out of them by giving them the resources to contribute their best.

But we don’t have the housing, we don’t have the healthcare, and we’re failing to simplify the accreditation processes required for immigrants to receive certification for their specialties, so they can work in their chosen careers.

I mean, man, if I meet one more Indian taxi driver with three degrees, I’ll lose my mind. No one with three degrees should be driving a cab for a living. And that’s on us, not them!

So, in that context, yes, we have an immigration problem: We need to do better for them.

Sure, curtailing numbers entering Canada until we can build more homes might be a good plan. But we could easily include them in those builds, too, if we get creative and go back to the old way of drawing immigrants to a new land — by letting them earn their stake in it.

We don't have any problems in Canada that can't be solved with the right political will. Our foundation is STRONG.

And I’ll tell you, folks, all our problems aside, I’m proud of Canada. Deeply. Passionately.

I’ve never been into ethnocentric thought or nationalist pride, but I’m getting there, man. I'm proud of my multicultural, complex country.

With the downfall of democracy down south, how we respond to this moment is everything.

This week, we've had a lot of talk about buying Canadian, and we’re all trying to understand what that means. Mostly, we want to Not Buy American, that’s so we can hurt or change the emerging American status quo.

More importantly, it’s to strengthen Canada.

Tomorrow night, my buddy and I are getting some shawarma for dinner from a local immigrant-owned Syrian joint walking distance from home.

That does a few things. First, 66% of that money we’ll spend stays here in my literal neighbourhood.

It keeps a storefront open, employs someone who lives at most a bus ride away from the shop. It goes to suppliers who employ local drivers. It keeps my ‘hood looking how my ‘hood looks right now, and that’s important, because that’s culture. It’s community.

It also helps an immigrant family make a successful life in this country. And they can’t do it alone, they need staff.

One of the worst things you can do for your city and country is to buy from franchise restaurants owned by foreign interests.

Tim Horton’s? NOT CANADIAN. In fact, they’re a morally bankrupt company and have been for decades. Look at all the lawsuits against them. I’ve eaten at Timmie’s a handful of times in 35 years because they fired my brother around 1990 for giving a free refill to an unhoused dude just before 11pm at night, ‘cos they were closing and he had a whole pot to throw out.

Fuck Tim Horton’s.

McDonald’s? Chipotle’s? Fuck them all. They’re making American fat cats fatter. People buying franchises and going American with them are making poor choices if they're in Canada, and that's just fact.

American franchises drive up the cost of business leasing in Canada.

In fact, with the national election coming up, you should insist on leasing protections for businesses as a platform, because it’s a crime how leases jump as much as 100% a year. It destroys neighbourhoods when a business can’t renew a lease and are priced out of the 'hood. The only ones who can fill the holes left are multinational chains, like Starbucks, and not some adorable florist or nerdy stationery shop.

Every dollar you spend is political.

Spend more bucks with independent Canadian businesses. Support immigrant businesses. Support smaller eateries. Boycott American franchises.

It may cost more, but it MATTERS. Eat at home more so you can make more meaningful purchases to protect your city.

All of this "buy Canadian" thinking is not just about what you get in stores, folks. It’s how we start taking our country back.

This is not about nationalism anymore.

It’s about Canada's political survival in a world where technocrats and billionaires don’t give a fuck about you.

Spend accordingly. Support small, local businesses.