Did the Prime Minister’s Office bungle the Product of Canada file?

Back in May 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper took to the podium at an event in the Niagara region to announce that the Product of Canada labelling rule was getting an overhaul, so “if something in the grocery store is marketed ‘Product of Canada,’ it must mean all or vitually all the contents are Canadian.”

The rules at the time, established in 1985 to support Canada’s manufacturing sector, were admittedly appalling, and everyone thought so: any food product could be labelled as a Product of  Canada if 51 per cent of the total production cost occured in the country, even if all the ingredients were imported.

Harper wasn’t the only one who identified Product of Canada rules as a problem, especially after CBC Marketplace did its trademark take-out on Product of Canada rules in the fall of 2007. But it did seem a bit odd that the PM would make the announcement, with Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz relegated to the task of introducing Harper at the announcement.