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The polling industry’s professional body says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

Food economist Mike von Massow of the University of Guelph said he thinks a show of Canadian fiscal solidarity may buttress the country’s position in trade negotiations, even if the #BuyCanadian campaign has more of a symbolic impact than an economic cost.

“Canadians of all political stripes and consumers are saying, ‘We’re behind you. We think this is the right thing to do,”‘ said von Massow. “We have a relatively unpredictable partner in these negotiations, so showing some solidarity and some resolve probably will create some benefit.”

Swearing off American-made products, however, is easier said than done, von Massow said. It can hard to decipher what is truly a Canadian product, and few consumers are willing to sacrifice their purchasing preferences to only buy what’s locally available, he said.

Scott Chamberlain, a father of four in Ottawa, said he’s been trying to fill his grocery cart with mostly homegrown goods to support the Canadian producers who could be hardest hit by cross-border friction over trade.

But when the labour lawyer tweeted out a photo of his first “Trump-free” haul — including Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Dole bananas and Activia yogurt — social media users were quick to point out that many of the foodstuffs he picked out are produced at least in part by American companies.

“I’m not going to say I’m never going to buy an American product again,” Chamberlain said in an interview. “We all just need to do little things to support Canada.”

Hallman said she doesn’t see herself taking that long-desired trip to Alaska any time soon, but she holds out hope that she’ll eventually feel comfortable crossing the border again.

“This is not some kind of rabid anti-Americanism. If anything, it’s done very regretfully, but I also didn’t have a choice,” she said. “It’s firmed my resolve that you can’t take for granted what we have.”