Atlanta’s CNN paid a visit to the Roustan Sports factory in Brantford, Ont.
“I told them about the threats their government continues to make on Canadian businesses, such as ours, which provides affordable hockey equipment for families in both our countries,” said W. Graeme Roustan, Executive Chairman of Roustan Sports, which includes Roustan Hockey and the STIX.com portal.
Roustan has always promoted the Made-In-Canada policies of his businesses – which also include McKenney Hockey and McKenney Lacrosse – as rival businesses continue to source their product from outside Canada.
“Now the media is paying attention and, as a result, more North American consumers are paying attention,” said Roustan. “What we need now is more support, more purchasing decisions from Canadians to choose Canadian products, as well as more pressure to be put on U.S. politicians by their consumers.”
CNN also spent time interviewing various people in Brantford – from the city’s mayor and a local hockey coach, to small business owners and hockey fans.
The subject of Wayne Gretzky also came up, with Roustan professing shock that some would think Gretzky would ever be a traitor to his Canadian roots.
“To drop Wayne Gretzky’s name into the middle of this…it’s a drive-by assassination of a name, a good quality Canadian name.
“It’s just been just completely ridiculous.”
Watch and read at CNN