‘An MBA in a week’: Local ‘Canada Is Not For Sale’ hatmaker reflects on a three-week trial by fire

When Liam Mooney joined a video call with OBJ on Monday, there were bags under his eyes, his hair was rumpled, and boy, did he look tired. After a few minutes, he reached out for one of his signature baseball caps to cover what he described as his “for-hat-only” hair. “We’ve been working really hard, […]

When Liam Mooney joined a video call with OBJ on Monday, there were bags under his eyes, his hair was rumpled, and boy, did he look tired. After a few minutes, he reached out for one of his signature baseball caps to cover what he described as his “for-hat-only” hair. “We’ve been working really hard, probably 21-22 hours a day since Premier (Doug) Ford donned the cap,” said the Ottawa entrepreneur who has become known for the viral “Canada Is Not For Sale” hat. Ford famously wore the hat Jan. 15 at a first ministers meeting, largely in response to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about Canada becoming the 51st state. Since launching three weeks ago, the patriotic apparel brand Mooney co-founded with Emma Cochrane, a principal at his company Jackpine Dynamic Branding, has sold “tens and tens and tens of thousands of hats and tuques.”  Mooney described it as “doing an MBA in a week … we’ve touched every aspect of developing a company – manufacturing, supply chain, brand development, public relations, importing, (the ins and outs of the) textile industry and trademark protection.”  In an effort to turn what started as a “small dropship project” into a national brand, Mooney and Cochrane have been working to make their products 100-per-cent Canadian-made. Initially, the hats were completely manufactured in Bangladesh and Vietnam. “We are excited to let you know that hats will be embroidered in Toronto, starting this week,” Cochrane said in a LinkedIn video posted two weeks ago. Since that time, “thousands” of hats have been brought to embroidery shops in Toronto so the products can be shipped to customers, Mooney said. Moving operations to Canada proved more difficult than expected. “We’ve discovered through the process that made-in-Canada baseball caps are actually pretty hard to find in the quantities we need,” Mooney said this week.  In addition to having printing and embroidery for the hats being done in Toronto, Mooney and Cochrane have sourced domestically produced T-shirts, hoodies and stickers to carry the “Canada Is Not For Sale” and “Strong and Free” brands. On Jan. 25, Jackpine announced in a press release that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Strong and Free Emblem Inc. in a collaboration that “will expand the reach of both brands, providing quality products that make passionate statements about Canada.”

Denise Dow, founder of Strong and Free and a native of Saint John, N.B., started and trademarked her brand, known for its logo of three maple leaves and the inscription “Strong & Free,” in 2007. Since then, her products have been available at various duty-free stores across the country and at select Canadian Tire and Sears stores. “My dad was a Coast Guard and we used to visit cousins in the United States and they had their American eagles. I just felt that Canada should have an emblem like that they could put on their homes to show they’re proud Canadians,” Dow said in an interview with OBJ. Dow said she was flooded with questions about ordering hats two weeks ago when Premier Ford wore Mooney and Cochrane’s “Canada Is Not For Sale” hat. This prompted her to get in touch with Mooney. “Trademarking is the best way to protect your brand. You have to invest a lot of money and time … From time to time, infringements come along, but most of the time they’re unintentional, which is the case with Liam Mooney and Jackpine,” Dow explained. “I do always reach out and look for the opportunity to collaborate with whoever has used the trademark.” Dow said the new agreement with Jackpine works on a royalty model. Mooney told OBJ on Monday that the Jackpine team is “super thrilled” to work with Dow and her “network of Canadian businesses.” “(Having) two Canadian businesses collaborating to bring people together and give people a reason to celebrate Canada. (That) is what this is all about,” Mooney said. Dow’s brand gives back to veterans organizations such as Vets Canada. On Monday, Mooney said his brand will support Wounded Warriors Canada, a national mental health service provider that helps members of the Canadian Armed Forces and first responders struggling with trauma.  “These are Canadians who have sacrificed immensely to protect our sovereignty and way of life. We believe that these values are deeply tied to our ‘Canada Is Not For Sale’ message,” Mooney said. Then, last week, Jackpine went through a trademark infringement problem of its own, issuing a press release addressing the counterfeit of its “Canada Is Not For Sale” hats. “Unfortunately, numerous knockoff hats and apparel are now being sold online, bearing our Canada Is Not For Sale brand without permission,” the press release read. “We've reached out to these sellers and educated them on the unauthorized use of our brand. While many of the notified sellers have stopped the unauthorized use of our brand, sadly, others continue to wrongly profit off our brand’s reputation, by selling unlicensed merchandise, which is unacceptable.” The release also states that Jackpine has launched two lawsuits against sellers who have refused to stop using the Jackpine brand for their products.  Reflecting on the journey so far, Mooney pointed to the intricacies of being in between the “ancient industry” of textile manufacturing and the blossoming industry of technology and the advent of AI. “There’s still a craft involved in making hats. They’re a very technical product to make. The other side of that is dealing with AI-generated websites and selling on social media. The challenge of producing hats while dealing with copycats and the expectation of next-day delivery from a modern digital economy,” he said.