What is the antidote to the Trump tariffs? Shopping local. For a long time, shopping locally has been a clear solution to Pontiac’s commercial woes. Like anywhere, the big box stores across the river or in Gatineau, and foreign online shopping sites, have drained
Pontiac’s economy.
Is the tide turning for Pontiac? Dear readers: this newspaper you hold is a promise from the shopkeepers in it. The advertisers put their commitment to the community in print.
It isn’t just this week’s edition, all year long the advertisers in the paper are inking their commitment to the Pontiac by supporting the region. Advertising in a newspaper is the business’ stamp of confidence in the future of our region.
Local support is literally found in the fibers of the newspaper. The paper is made from forestry waste. And the ink is made from agricultural waste – all ink in Quebec newspapers is vegetable-based.
Local jobs in forestry and agriculture aren’t the only jobs supported by newspapers. The Quebec printer hires hundreds of locals. The main driver lives in Luskville and has been delivering the paper to Canada Post offices for over a decade. The journalists and ad reps live in every corner of MRC Pontiac’s 18 municipalities. And so do administrative employees – Calumet Island and Danford Lake.
Locally, regionally, provincially and as a country, together we can bypass the trainwreck our southern friends are going through. We can do this by carrying out the plans offered to us by economic planners over the last decades. Experts at the SADC, at the banks and planning agencies, know the local economy needs to be loyal to local businesses and services. That’s why they advertise in local newspapers, why they invest in farm businesses, industry, tourism and commerce.
If investing in ourselves doesn’t happen now, at the outset of economic warfare, there is little hope going forward. Buying local food, clothes, renovation items, services – all these are readily available nearby, and have the benefit of keeping Pontiac money in Pontiac. If every Pontiac household or family were to commit to spending even just $50 locally each
week instead of elsewhere, that would inject almost $1.5 million per month – or $18 million per year – into our local economy. The results? More jobs, more local taxes paid (leading to increased public services), more summer jobs for our kids, and more business opportunities. Local shopping choices expand, new services emerge, and
the community thrives, unscathed by the trade war.
Long live the riches of Pontiac!
Published in the Pontiac Journal on March 12, 2025.
