WARMINGTON: Mayor Chow says her 'don't shop at Home Depot' quote wasn't a boycott call

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Liar, liar, pants on fire?

Or was there nuance to what Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said and didn’t say about shopping or not shopping at Home Depot?

You be the judge.

Councillor Brad Bradford, who ran against Chow in the mayoral byelection in 2023, says there is no ambiguity about it at all.

“Trying to boycott thousands of Canadian jobs is troubling enough — but then lying about it?” the councillor wrote on X. “That’s not how we build trust in this city.”

Now for some background: It goes back to June 2 when Chow was at the Pride Parade flag raising in Nathan Phillips Square. She said “don’t shop at Home Depot” in retaliation for them decide to not sponsor this year’s event.

As reported originally by the Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley, Chow said “don’t shop at Home Depot” and “shop Canadian, shop Rona, yeah, yes, yes. We are not the 51st state. Are you kidding? We are proud Torontonians, right?” As Lilley pointed out, it was a terrible thing to say for many reasons including that Home Depot employs thousands of Canadians, pays copious amounts of corporate and local taxes, and displays many Canadian products.

It was unbecoming of any politician to say something like that just because a company decided to go in a different direction on its sponsorships. Home Depot has always been supportive of the Pride Parade and still does so in other jurisdictions. Rona is also a great company, but is not Canadian owned. So none of what Chow said there makes any sense.

The mayor had not commented on her words — until Wednesday, on the airwaves with legendary Toronto radio morning man John Moore of Newstalk 1010. She didn’t own up to any of it or apologize.

Said Moore: “Some sponsors pulled out of Pride, or reduced their funding at Pride, and if I understand it right you called for a boycott of Home Depot. Are you standing by that?

Said Chow: “I did not call for a boycott.”

Moore didn’t let up.

“So you never called for a boycott?”

Said Chow: “I am saying they are American, so we have been saying shop local.”

Moore responded with “75% of the stuff they stock is from Canada.”

Bradford called this obfuscation.

“This is uncomfortable for all of us because she was caught on tape saying it,” Bradford told the Toronto Sun.

“It’s disappointing since Home Depot is the biggest seller of Canadian lumber and employs thousands across the country. What the mayor said sends a chill through the business community in Toronto which, like Home Depot, have big investments in our city.”

On X, Bradford also wrote: “Mayor Olivia Chow had a clear opportunity to acknowledge the mistake, take responsibility, and move forward. Instead, she denied something that’s a matter of public record.”

Chow did not return a request for comment on how she rationalized that saying to people not to shop at Home Depot is not the same as calling for a boycott. Bradford said this does not just make her look bad but Toronto as well.

“The mayor is effectively the CEO of the city. Comments like this serve to chase away investment and jobs from Toronto. This isn’t just about ‘love local, shop local’ — it’s about honesty, accountability, and standing up for every Torontonian.”

Home Depot so far has not commented. Why would they dignify any of it? They deserve better than this.

This is not the first time there’s been strange fibbing coming out of Chow’s mayor’s office.

For the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, when she didn’t attend the vigil attended by most everybody else in politics, her staff told the Toronto Sun that she didn’t receive her invitation – something that was easy to later show ad been sent to her.

How much spinning of the truth is a mayor allowed before the public becomes concerned? Time will tell. As for now, Bradford has just three words for this situation.

“Toronto deserves better.”

jwarmington@postmedia.com