Cost Trumps Patriotism in Flag Pin Flap

Oddly Enough - Reuters

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The next time a Canadian official hands you a lapel pin bearing an image of the country's maple leaf flag, take a closer look. That symbol of patriotism was likely made in China.

Opposition legislator Charlie Angus attacked the Liberal government on Wednesday for ordering millions of "inferior quality" pins from a Chinese supplier rather than the Canadian factory that has been making them for 35 years.

"They are selling off our cultural heritage like a bunch of roadside hucksters selling off hubcaps and velvet Elvis paintings," Angus told Parliament.

Public Works Minister Scott Brison, whose department buys the pins, said the Chinese pins were cheaper. But this did not satisfy Angus, a member of the left-leaning New Democrats.

"We're outsourcing the fundamental symbol of what Canada is to a foreign country. I think that's a scandal," he told reporters. Canadian officials and members of Parliament traditionally hand out the pins as presents.

Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said that to demand maple leaf pins be made by Canadian suppliers was bad policy for a country so dependent on international trade.

"I think we need to follow our procurement rules rather than falling into an existential crisis on this subject," he told reporters.