About a week ago, Mike Salisbury was having a conversation with someone about the trade tensions between Canada and the US.
From that conversation sparked motivation for the Guelph artist and former city councillor to design and sell a new t-shirt filled with Canadian pride, which also features a nod to the past.
The “1812 Strong and Free” t-shirts have gone on sale online.
“Since council, I’ve been working full time in developing my artistic practice,” Salisbury said.
“My art practice is a blend of politics and art, or activism, and it was the image that was developed first, and then it was ‘okay, this would be great as more than just a one-off, this would be great if this could be spread about.’
“It was really that fusion of politics and art, or activist art, that ultimately led to the start of this brand.”
The centrepiece of the brand is a maple leaf logo with the words “1812 Strong and Free” inside of it.
“(It) isn’t just a slogan, it’s a statement of defiance,” the website reads.
The 1812 references, of course, the War of 1812.
Back then, United States and allied forces engaged in battle with British forces in Upper Canada. The British set fire to the White House in Washington at one point, but the main point was the Brits held off the US from taking over the land now part of southwestern Ontario.
Everything about this venture is Canadian.
Art of Where, a Montreal-based company, prints the shirts on demand. Canada Post is the shipper and Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify is the website host.
“It’s primarily Canadian, and anything but America,” he said.
Each t-shirt costs $25 – yes, a cheeky reference to the 25 per cent tariffs – and will benefit Canadian businesses and artists who want to come on board.
“This is all conceptual at this point, we haven’t done it,” Salisbury said, adding the idea is to have profit sharing among any artist helping with the venture.
It takes about a week to get the shirt delivered through the mail.
They are available in sizes from small to double extra large.
“There’s a movement afoot. Elbows up has sort of become a popular term,” Salisbury said.
“I like it, but part of my headspace on this is stay out of the dirt, stay out of the mud.”
He said the shirt is more of a satirical and positive take, but also a nudge to Americans not to take Canada lightly.
Salisbury called this a “spur of the moment, unplanned” move, and believes it could fade away over time. But for the time being, there is a market for it, alluding to the Canadian patriotism being seen since the tariff threats began.
“It has brought us together in a way I’ve never seen before,” he said. “And if this can play a piece on that, and wave the flag a little bit, I think that would be great.”