Finance worker Michael Atkinson is a fan of electric cars, but lately he found himself embarrassed to drive his Tesla Model 3 around Vancouver.
Dismayed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his association with U.S. President Donald Trump, Atkinson now drives an electric Volkswagen ID.4 after returning his Tesla to the dealership with two months left on the lease.
The final straw was Trump鈥檚 planned tariffs on Canadian products, which struck Atkinson as a 鈥渉orrible economic idea.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 gonna hurt Americans, it鈥檚 certainly going to hurt Canadians and he is using it as essentially blackmail to try to make us consider being a 51st state,鈥� said Atkinson about the threatened tariffs.
He was speaking just before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump said on Monday that the tariffs were on hold for a month.
Atkinson, who works for a credit union, is part of a wave of Canadians turning their backs on an array of American products, big and small, to express displeasure at politics and policies south of the border 鈥� most notably Trump鈥檚 tariff plan.
Andrea Mitchell said outside a supermarket in downtown Vancouver that she 鈥渄id pretty good鈥� by purchasing mushrooms grown in Canada.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to show sovereignty and that we stick together. I think it鈥檚 an opportunity for us to think about our country and the value of our future,鈥� said Mitchell, adding that Canadians are 鈥渞eally patriotic people.鈥�
Mitchell said the news coming out of the U.S. made her feel that Americans don鈥檛 realize 鈥渉ow valuable we are as an ally,鈥� pointing out that Canada had recently sent water bombers and firefighters to California to help battle devastating wildfires.
鈥淭hese threats of taking over our country and imposing tariffs that are absolutely ridiculous 鈥� I think it鈥檚 absolutely irresponsible what they鈥檙e doing, and they鈥檙e blaming it on fentanyl crossing the border, which doesn鈥檛 make any sense,鈥� said Mitchell, speaking before news of the tariff delay.
Fellow Vancouver shopper Rick Piccolo, also speaking before the tariff delay announcement, said he had a new habit of carefully reading product labels to make sure they were not made in the U.S.
鈥淭rump is an idiot,鈥� said Piccolo, 鈥淗e is like a builder who has only one tool. If you鈥檝e got a nail, he has got a hammer. You鈥檝e got a piece of wood that needs cutting, he鈥檚 got a hammer. It鈥檚 the only thing he knows. Eventually people will get tired of him being an idiot, but people are going to suffer until that happens.鈥�
Keri Kettle, associate professor of marketing at the University of Ottawa鈥檚 Telfer school of management, said that with groceries so expensive, and some American products cheaper than local ones, it could seem like a luxury to choose brands based on where they are manufactured.
But he said it was good to see Canadians rally around their identity by 鈥渕aking more conscious choices about the brands that they support.鈥�
鈥淪ome of the provincial governments are taking very strong stances and removing U.S. from the shelf,鈥� he said, referring to measures including the removal of some U.S. liquor from government-run stores in B.C. and Ontario.
鈥淪o, I think it鈥檚 very much driven by our identity 鈥� As a proud Canadian, I think it鈥檚 a great thing to have something like this every once in a while to remind people that they鈥檙e Canadian first and for a real strong sense of national identity for Canada.鈥�
Atkinson said he grew increasingly displeased by Musk鈥檚 meddling in foreign politics, support for right-wing groups, and what he saw as Trump鈥檚 threats on Canadian sovereignty.
He鈥檚 now paying for his two cars, with about $1,800 left in lease payments on the Tesla while he鈥檚 paying $800 a month for the purchase of his new Volkswagen that he picked up 10 days ago.
His only disappointment is that when he went to the Tesla dealer to return his car, many others were waiting to pick up new Teslas.
Tesla does not release sales figures for Canada but rebate data from Transport Canada鈥檚 zero-emission vehicle program suggest about 33,000 Teslas received rebates in the nine months to Dec. 31. On a per-month basis, that is down about 15 per cent compared to the approximately 50,000 Teslas that received the rebates in the full 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Atkinson is now rethinking other expenditures.
鈥淚 think we should start thinking about considering not travelling to the United States 鈥� and it鈥檚 hard, I recognize that, but wherever possible, buy Canadian rather than goods imported from the U.S.,鈥� said Atkinson.
