‘Canada is not for sale’: How a patriotic hat became so much more Artwork

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Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

‘Canada is not for sale’: How a patriotic hat became so much more

January 07, 2026 • Village Media Inc.

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Even now, months later, Liam Mooney has a hard time believing just how fast everything came together.

One day, he and his wife, Emma Cochrane, were watching Premier Doug Ford on television, talking about Donald Trump’s 51st state rhetoric and how Canada would never be for sale. A few days later, the Ottawa-based couple had stitched together a hat bearing Ford’s patriotic message — a hat that Ford himself would soon be sporting.

From there, the design went viral: “CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE.”

As hat sales soared, Mooney learned a lot about the challenges of domestic manufacturing, and the lengths some Canadian firms must go in order to get their creations on local store shelves. His mission now is to share his many lessons, hopeful he can help other homegrown entrepreneurs catch the made-in-Canada train.

Mooney is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. As you'll see, he's much more than a talented designer and driven entrepreneur. He's a passionate Canadian who understands exactly what's at stake.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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