Local marketers get patriotic, saying ‘F*#! Trump’

Canadiana in the form of flags, magnets, stickers, wooden plaques, and more littered the tables of vendors touting their national pride on March 16, at the F*#! Trump: Buy Local Market at the Halifax Brewery Market in downtown Halifax.  

The market was hosted by Different Folks, a local events company that focuses on the shop local movement. Kayti Baur, founder of Different Folks, organized the market. 

“There’s a lot of frustration right now with the United States and what’s been going on, in terms of threatening our sovereignty […] and there’s been a large push to shop local,” Baur told The Signal as vendors all around began setting up their displays. 

In February, U.S President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S, sparking a trade war between the two neighbours. It remains unclear how these tariffs will impact the daily lives of Canadians. 

Baur said this is the first market Different Folks has hosted since the announcement of the tariffs. While she does not know how they might affect future events, she hopes more people are inspired to shop local. 

The market allowed the local makers community to come together and lift each other up. During the setup someone entering ran across the room to hug their friend working at one of the booths. 

While setting up, those entering held doors for each other while shuffling in carrying armloads of boxes as big as their torsos. Neighbouring vendors chatted over tables as they set up their separate displays. 

One person putting together their display asked their neighbour for an opinion.  

“Is this too Christmas-y?” they laughed while gesturing towards an assortment of green and red fabrics.

They might be competitors in terms of sales, but everyone at this market was on the same team — backing the buy local movement, and announcing their displeasure for Trump. 

Shoppers could expect to find everything from stickers and magnets to books, beer, and laundry detergent. And it wasn’t all just for esthetics — many of the tables incorporated political messaging, in line with the theme of “celebrating the talents of Canadians” as suggested by the advertising Instagram post.

Common phrases across the market included “eat the rich”, and “elbows up,” a phrase commonly used to describe Canadians who disapprove of actions and statements originating from Trump.  

Some vendors used this event as an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ community, showcasing merchandise decorated with a diversity of Pride flags and other embellishments celebrating the community. 

Krista and Jessica Wright of Island Indulgence sat at their booth offering free samples of their rum cake during the market. Krista Wright spoke about how these markets can bring communities together. 

“As a queer black immigrant,  I felt this market really aligned with my goals and who I was as a person,” she told The Signal from behind her table lined with rum cakes. “Different Folks has been very opening and welcoming.” 

Island Indulgence sells rum cakes, made from a family recipe Krista got from her mother, who lives in the Bahamas. Now, because of the tariffs, Island Indulgence has difficulty accessing some of the ingredients necessary to make their products. 

“We used to use a rum that was made in the U.S., as well as a Bahamian rum,” said Krista Wright. “So the Bahamian rum now is a little bit harder to get access to from the Bahamas […] but with the tariffs, the increase in alcohol and limited supplies, we’re now moving forward to local Nova Scotia rum and continuing with our Bahamian rum because this is what the company is based off of.” 

Emily McEwan, founder of Bradon Publishing, has always printed her products in Canada, so she hasn’t experienced the same supply issues as many other small business owners. However, her company has experienced a loss of potential sales. 

“There has been some reluctance from our U.S customers to order from our U.S. online shop, because they just don’t know whether there’s going to be a tariff or not,” McEwan said in an interview with The Signal during the vendor market.

“And to be very honest, we also don’t know. And the reason that none of us know is that the tariffs are being implemented chaotically, randomly, non-professionally.” 

McEwan said the uncertainty has made it difficult to make decisions that will affect her business.  

“We can’t plan sales campaigns or sales or anything. We basically can’t plan ahead because they can’t plan ahead. And they can’t plan because Trump doesn’t plan. And Trump doesn’t plan because he delights in chaos and destruction.” 

During the market, shoppers trickled in and out through both ends of the brewery market, eyeing tables and chatting with vendors along the way. Elias Clarke told The Signal he popped into the market with some new friends.

Clarke said supporting local small businesses is “always important, but especially right now when capitalism is so big and they are pushing it so hard. Like the majority of the things I own are either thrifted or locally sourced.”