The city of Montreal has created a 375th anniversary line of merchandise — but a Projet Montreal councillor says that merchandise should be made here, instead of in places like the Far East.
Ahuntsic councillor Émilie Thuillier raised the issue during Monday's city council meeting. Some of the clothing — tuques, scarves, winter jackets, and t-shirts — are made in places like Ontario, Nicaragua and China.
Thullier believes that while the involved suppliers — Rudsak and W Communication — are local, they should also be locally made as well, and she suggests the agency overseeing the 375th birthday celebrations should have included a clause requiring those chothing items be made in Montreal.
"We have a manufacturing sector that we can be proud of, and it's an important economic motor," she said.
The mayor responded that while some of the clothes are made elsewhere, other items, such as the tuques, mittens and scarves, are made in Montreal. He also points out that the suppliers and designers of the anniversary merchandise are all local.
Thullier suggests the city missed an opportunity to create a unique Made in Montreal branding for those clothes for the anniversary.