With the growing political friction between the United States and Canada, led by U.S. President Donald Trump’s insistence that Canada should become their 51st state, Canadians across all political divides appear to have have formed a united front resulting in a surge in patriotism not seen for decades.
The flagship of that love for our country is literally our red-and-white maple leaf national flag.
And no one could be happier about that than Barrie’s Flags Unlimited in the north end of Barrie.
Sales are booming during what is normally seen as a slow period for flag sales.
At the retail counter at the front of the flag manufacturing business, Barrie resident Kent Smerdon taps his credit card on the payment terminal to finish off his purchase.
“I think it's something we should have been doing all along,” he tells BarrieToday regarding the sudden rise in Canadian flag-waving.
“Call Trump what you will, but he has certainly lit some fires under some asses in this country," Smerdon added. "And I think all the things that politicians are scurrying around and doing is what this country should have been doing for decades."
Meanwhile, behind the scenes on the factory's production side, the Flags Unlimited staff work away at cutting material, sewing, packaging and shipping pallets full of Canadian flags.
Stephen Hendry, the local company's director of sales and marketing, said they can thank Donald Trump.
“Every time he says something, our sales just keep going up and up,” Hendry said with a laugh.
Sales of Canadian flags have been up about 50 per cent this year from the same period last year.
What does that mean for their business?
“It’s all hands on deck,” Hendry said.
With several employees on vacation, as this is generally a slow time for sales, Flags Unlimited has had to scramble to keep up.
“We've got a lot of people away right now and there's a high demand, so a lot of people are having to put in some extra time to get this done,” Hendry said.
He believes Canada is a quietly patriotic country.
“When things like this happen, I think we come together and we all celebrate who we are and what we are … It's great to see people get excited about the country and about who we are,” Hendry added.
He said it's also hard to predict how long this surge in flag demand will last.
“With Donald Trump in place for another four years, you just don't know. All of our customers, especially our retail store customers, they just want everything they can get,” Hendry said.
The company did not forecast a surge in the need for materials for this time of year to make flags, but he admits it’s “a good problem to have."
“We're good right now, but we've got a lot of work to do to keep it going, so that's good,” Hendry said.
