A former CBC host breaks down what makes something truly Canadian, from the government's MAPL music system to Tim Hortons' ownership split and French's ketchup's roots in Ontario. He proposes the Maple Code: five factors including sourcing, ownership, employment, and who actually benefits from your purchase.
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Celine Dion is not Canadian. Neither is Justin Bieber, Bryan Adams, or Drake. Big Drake! At least according to a special government code you've never heard of, but one which we might be able to use to help decide what stores to buy Canadian at. Let's back up. Years ago I was a national radio host for the CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. I worked on a number of shows, but one in particular that I guest hosted a lot on was called The Roundup. It was sort of an interview variety show, and it played a lot of music. Now in Canada, by law, broadcasters that play music have quotas they have to meet in terms of how many songs that are played are Canadian content. Sometimes people in the industry call it CanCon. But what is Canadian content? Does a guy born in Moncton but living in Beverly Hills working with an American producer count? What about a singer from Nanaimo whose hit song was written by a team of Swedish pop wizards? To work this out, the government developed a code called MAPL. M.A.P.L. It stands for Music, Artist, Performance, and Lyrics, and to be officially Canadian, any song recorded after 1972 has to meet at least 2 of those. And they are: was the music composed by a Canadian, was it performed by a Canadian, was it recorded in Canada, and were the lyrics written by a Canadian. By these rules, half of Nickelback's songs might not even be Canadian, which means we had an easy way to revoke their citizenship and we didn't take it. So what does this have to do with shopping? Buying Canadian has become an Olympic sport, and half of us are competing blindfolded. Because in the age of multinational corporations, deciding where to put your money isn't simple. Take Tim Hortons. At first glance, it certainly seems Canadian, but trying to figure out if Tim Hortons is Canadian is like trying to figure out if poutine is a meal or a cry for help. It depends on who you ask. It was started by a Canadian hockey player, its headquarters are in Toronto, it has 5 distribution centres, 2 manufacturing plants across Canada, it employs 100,000 Canadians. I mean, that's pretty Canadian, right? Well, that depends on how you define it. Consider this: Tim Hortons is owned by a company called RBI. The largest single shareholder in RBI is 3G Capital, an American investment firm based in New York. It owns about 25% of the company. A similar amount is held by Canadian banks and large investors like pension funds. Now this number does fluctuate though, as markets sometimes do. So that leaves 50%. Are those mostly Americans? Canadians? We don't know. So what matters more, who owns the brand or who actually runs the stores? And if that's a tricky question, let's talk about ketchup. The French's Ketchup Company is owned by McCormick and Company, that is an American food giant. It's a public company, and 80% of it is owned by massive American investment firms like Vanguard, State Farm, and BlackRock. So if it's American, why is it so popular here? History. The city of Leamington, Ontario is known as the Tomato Capital of Canada. It had one of the largest Heinz ketchup factories in the world. 1,000 Canadians worked there, not including the local farmers that supported it. Then in 2013, practically overnight, It closed up shop. Hundreds of workers out of a job, farmers left without a major buyer for their tomatoes. And that's when French's, which until then had really only been known for its mustard, decided to move into the old Heinz plant, re-employ almost everyone, and provide a market for the farmers again. That is why many Canadians buy French's. Not because there aren't homegrown alternatives—Primo is one—but because they did right by us. But let's be clear, for Canadians, supporting French's over Heinz isn't about patriotism, it's about holding grudges. And if there's one thing about the true Canadian identity, it's that we're very polite but extremely vindictive. Maybe then what we need is our own kind of Maple Code to help us do some quick math on whether a store we shop at or a product we buy qualifies for our patriotic dollars. In my mind, there are 5 factors: How much Canadian material or product do they buy to make what they sell? What percentage of the company is owned by Canadians? How much do they contribute to the life of Canadians? That's things like charity donations and so on. Are they somehow uniquely Canadian, like in a way that other countries would recognize? And how many Canadians do they employ? Are they fair to them? Do they pay them well? Do they have a good relationship with Canadian unions? Yes, the code is TOOG. Okay, shut up. I, I spent all day coming up with that. Let's apply this to Tim Hortons. First, they have a flagship coffee roasting plant in Canada that supplies most of the Canadian stores with coffee. There's another in the US, but that one supplies the American stores. As for their food, I couldn't get specific numbers, but a spokesperson for the company told me that most food for Canadian locations are sourced from within Canada. So, okay, I'll ownership: 25% American, 25% Canadian, and 50% unknown. Of that unknown group, the CBC reported this week that 16% of the voting power is held by two American firms. That's 41% American control that we know about, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that the rest of the unknown group of smaller investors add up to make them mostly Canadian-owned. There is another issue though. Almost all Tim Hortons are franchised. I asked the company how many franchise locations were owned by Canadians, and while they either didn't have or wouldn't give me specific numbers, that spokesperson said the, quote, vast, vast majority, unquote, are Canadian. So half a point. Quality of life: the company said last year it raised $44 million for charities. It has a children's foundation. Clearly a point there. Uniqueness: I'd say it's pretty Canadian in its branding and marketing and public perception. It's been basically part of our national identity. Another point. Employment. This is where things get messy. Some franchises cut employee benefits when the minimum wage went up. Media reported that the company even advised shareholders to vote against reporting on worker treatment. And some people believe it relies too heavily on the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Zero points. Final score: 3.5 out of 5 toques. Is that Canadian enough for you to consider shopping there? That's up to you. For me, Tim Hortons is Canadian the same way my uncle who winters in Arizona is. Technically still one of us, but suspiciously tan and making some questionable business decisions. Also, there's another factor: weighting. Which of these criteria means more than the others? Is it where the money goes? Where the decisions are made? Who signs the paychecks? Or is it something less tangible? Something about values? About who steps up? When it matters. And that is why, sadly, my fancy toot code probably will never work. If nothing else though, this proves one thing: buying Canadian isn't looking for a maple leaf in the window or on the package, it's about asking questions. Who benefits? Who gets left behind? And when push comes to shove, who actually gives a damn about this country? Because in the end, being Canadian isn't something you measure, it's something you prove.
