I was out this weekend shopping and I came across a Ti-Cats jersey that was made in China. In the past I had come across a Ti-Cat flag, also made in China. Nothing against China, but considering how many millions of public dollars that have been pumped into the league over the years, why isn't the league manufacturing this merchandise in Canada? I understand that having this stuff made elsewhere may be cheaper, but again, the league has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars for Stadium construction, Grey Cup parties, etc- employing Canadians for all aspects of the league's operation is the least the CFL could do.
I've asked this question to Ti-Cats owner Bob Young via facebook and he deleted my comment. I tweeted this to Mark Cohon and he hasn't responded. What's the deal?
The only team seemingly making a good amount of money from merchandise are the Riders. It sounds like the Cats might now be starting to sell a lot. Not sure about the rest of the league.
So now you want the CFL to use made in Canada merchandise, with labour that probably cost at least 10x(not sure if that much) the amount? Who is going to buy the merchandise at these inflated prices? Is the CFL supposed to eat the increased cost of labour?
There is no way to use Canadian labour and not increase prices dramatically. Welcome to the global economy.
It's too bad, as I would love to have everything locally produced, but it is just not feasible.
It would be great if there was some localized place to buy made in Canada products.
What you're talking about is a major North American problem, not just CFL.
To make the products cheap enough for people to buy here they need to be made over there. If nobody makes CFL merchandise affordable in Canada that's a lot of tax dollars lost out on from merchandise not being sold at games, so there is another end to the spectrum. The higher sales of affordable merchandise allow us to make the money through the 10% taxes across the country usually, except the places that have no PST, the teams also need to make money or the league doesn't get anywhere at all.
I would prefer all merchandising, not just for CFL, but Junior Hockey, NHL, and many other things were made in Canada but the fact is if you look at most dollar stores in the states they sell a lot of things that aren't made in the US but are made in Canada. Canada exports a lot of its goods to the US so then the US would also have to cut off trade with us which is 85% of our economy I believe.
Its a very deeply dug issue, I do believe the idea is to get manufacturing back over to the US and some people believe that future could be in the use of 3D printers making manufacturing cheaper if they could eventually make products as strong as their factory counterparts which are not quite capable yet I have heard.
Making things in Canada is less and less feasible when large organizations like the CFL who have buying power don't support Canadian manufacturers. Here in Hamilton, when we had our stadium debate and the Ti-Cats threatened to leave, a lot was said by fans and team owners about the pride we should have in the Ti-Cats. Manufacturing this stuff in Canada might show that pride in a way that really counts.
10X is an exaggeration- there are Canadian apparel manufacturers who could be supplying this product, and with the amount of merch that both the Roughriders and Ti-Cats sell, they could likely get quite a price break.
Again, the public subsidizes this league massively. Why not employ Canadians to make this stuff rather than exporting it abroad? It's still possible to do so and turn a profit. I know because as a screenprinter I use Canadian-made t-shirts and it hasn't broken my bank, and I buy in small quantities.
Went to DC this summer and bought myself a White House replica. Big Made in China sticker underneath. We don't make anything anymore in NA. Day of reckoning is coming. We are going to regret having exported our manufacturing...
Well sure, it's "more feasible", but the CFL couldn't exist without generous contributions from taxpayers. Maybe if they're just going to operate like a cold and calculating corporation, it would be "more feasible" if the CFL didn't accept corporate welfare from taxpayers.
When we export our raw logs to China for processing, they have to send some thing back in those containers. :roll: :roll:
If people only knew how many thousands of containers leave Northern BC destined to be produced over seas, you would shake your head. (They put them in containers at the sort yards to hide the optics of all those logs gong to export)
We used to have mills employing CANADIANS making lumber. Now there are only a handful left.
So, instead of empty containers coming back for logs, you get CFL, NHL, NBA merchandise and WHite House souvinirs. :roll:
I found a American government site that lists manufacturing employment hourly rates by country. Canada - $25.65 (2012). China - $1.15 (2009). So yes, 10x is an exaggeration - it’s much too low.
10x the “labour cost” is not an exaggeration, it is actually a larger discrepancy than that, nevermind the raw textile cost difference.
Consumer, commodity, high-labour-content products of any sort simply cannot be made at prices people will pay in Canada. It is the economic reality. What you do find in Canada is niche markets, like shirts, jackets, hats, etc that are made in China but the customization with embroidery of logos and the like is done here because it can be done by machine with low labour input.
Actually, given what that money can buy in their market, maybe those wages aren’t that low. Not sure. But also, given the alternative, not working?
By the way, could you let us know where the clothes you are currently wearing were manufactured? I’m guessing that at least one article, and probably more, was made outside of Canada. I could be wrong.
They don’t put the logs in containers to “hide” them; they are put in containers as that is a necessity when using the type of ships available to ship logs.
Lumber, which means dimensional wood manufactured into framing products, is still primarily made in Canada for use in Canada and significantly for export to the USA, despite the US softwood lumber quotas. Even finishing wood products are still primarily made in Canada for our market. What we get from those exported logs is packing containers, pallets and some furniture frames with the rest processed in the importing country for local use. Again, labour cost differentials are the problem.
The fact is that WE have increased exports of lumber to China:
"B.C. producers continued to benefit from China’s expanding demand for North American lumber
in 2011. Canadian producers (almost all from B.C.) increased their softwood lumber shipments
to China to 5.0 billion bf nominal. In
just two years, Canada has increased its shipments to
China by 196%, to the point where Canada’s exports to China are second to only to those of the
U.S. "
Hey, you asked! Pretty beside the point anyway. I’m not a football league, nor do I receive millions from the public.
I would hope the CFL will at least look into the issue, and explore alternatives. I don’t agree with other posters that it’s impossible to buy Canadian.
To be fair. Reebok makes the crap. Like all athletic companies they like little children working the sweatshops so they can make their 800 percent markups.
