The Ben Mulroney Show - "Lake Ontario" Hat from the Creators Behind "Canada Is Not For Sale"

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

On today's episode of 'The Ben Mulroney Show,' Ben welcomes Liam Mooney,  Founder of Jackpine Strategy & Design, and co-creator of Canada is Not For Sale   https://jackpine.co Before President Trump formally announced his move to rename Lake Ontario, Liam's company had already designed a Lake Ontario hat, If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠   Executive Producer:  Mike Drolet Reach out to Mike with story ideas or tips at [e-mail] Enjoy   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting with just $1 all day, every day now until December 31st. You gotta try breakfast. at participating A.W. locations in Ontario. Let's now talk about this moment that we are living in where Donald Trump has with the stroke of a pen, because he's petty like that, has renamed on his side of the border. The Lake Ontario is now Lake America or Lake of America. I don't know. And it doesn't make any sense because the governor of New York has said she doesn't recognize that.

They're going to keep calling it in the state. There you keep calling it Lake Ontario. So it is what it is. I think it was designed to take our focus off of the negotiations and to think emotionally. But emotion can be a heck of a thing. We buy a lot of stuff emotionally. So our next guest has seen in this crisis an opportunity. And to talk about that, please welcome Liam Mooney.

He's the founder of Jack Pine Strategy and Design and co-creator of the Canada is not for sale set. You remember that? That hat, the Canada is not for sale hat. I remember seeing our Premier wearing that a few months ago. Liam, welcome to the show. Thank you very much, Ben. Great to be here. Yeah, okay.

So this is, talk to me about when the moment strikes you. Like, oh, we can do this. This is a people will want this product. They will want that. The Canada's not for sale hat. And now the new one that you're going to tell us about. It doesn't really start like that, Ben. It's more of a response to the environment and a feeling.

You know, when President Trump started with the rhetoric in 25, and Prime Minister Trudeau announces his intention to resign, it felt like there was a vacuum. And we just wanted to come out in a moment and say, Canada is not for sale. Just felt like inappropriate things to say. So you weren't thinking about the market or anything like that. You're like, this is just us voicing our Canadian idea.

identity. Yeah, but I did also make an e-commerce store where we were raising money as well for Wounded Warriors Canada. Good for you. A mental health agency that supports, yeah, so you know what they do, great work. So, you know, it's, and what we've also done through this is we've put a focus on the economics, the supply chains, and the manufacturing of made in Canada. And we've put a hope and a belief in made in Canada.

And we've invested millions into the textiles industry. in Canada. And we've been working with artisans, tool and dime makers, factory workers. I've been walking factory floors, plants, you name it, and every kind of building imaginable across this country for the past year and a half. I've had so many incredible conversations and business dealings. And it's been a very gratifying experience. And yeah. Yeah. Talk to me. How, I assume you had to do multiple runs of that Canada is not for sale hat. Yes, we sold over 50,000 around the world, and still today, we're still going strong. And, you know, folks from Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, 50,000 hats.

Wow. Wow. And now it looks like there's a, this is, this is that moment 2.0 with Lake Ontario. You've said, I took a look at the Lake Ontario hat. It's a beautiful hat. I love the font you chose. Thank you. It's a really nice hat. Yeah, it's great. wanted it to feel really Canadian. Yeah, no, it's fantastic.

And this time, you're partnering with a different charity. Yeah. Drink, swim, fish, Canada, formerly the Lake Ontario Waterkeepers, and they do a lot of great work to keep Lake Ontario and the different water resources we have in the province and through Canada, safe and enjoyable for all Canadians, for now and for future generations, and for all of the amazing ecosystem and wildlife that we cherish here.

I also think that President Trump in the White House posted a video of a, I guess it was an eagle and a goose. I think the goose ended up winning that fight. Keep watching. Yeah. So when when did you decide to start making this hat, though? So in this instance, as I, you know, it's all about signals and pattern recognition, strategic foresight. And that's what led to Canada's not for sale. And that's what led to Lake Ontario.

when the I'm a bit of a political hawk then yeah and so as the the political conversations are kind of stalling toward the end of that week with the negotiations in the United States I'm getting my spider sense and I'm thinking you know what this is going to fall apart I don't want it to I think we we want this to go forward we want stability we want to have good relations with America it's been a great thing to be associated with America to be connected to them. But there's, the president had never stopped belittling Canada and insulting Canada. And I just thought, you know what, if this goes off the tracks for just a couple moments

or a couple beats, he's going to, he won't resist the urge to put his sights on Canada. Yeah. And then when he first mentioned Lake Ontario, I thought, okay, we've got to move now to him. He's going to do exactly what he did with the Gulf of Mexico. He's actually going to do it. He's going to go and do whatever he can do to make it real in his world. And so we just wanted to kind of be ready for that, put some pieces in place, and we've been now able to support Canadian manufacturing again.

We've been able to support another Canadian charity again. And we've been able to put a spotlight on these issues and also kind of reinforce these conversations around our culture, our identity and most importantly our sovereignty. Yeah, well, listen, I commend you for peeking around the corner of history just a little bit because I was following it closely too, but I didn't take my eye, I didn't look up at the horizon. I was looking sort of looking down of what we were doing, not about what could be on the horizon just around the corner.

You got to do both. Yeah, no, well done. Well done. That's very impressive. And I'm guessing at this point, because I know you've sold hundreds thus far. You're going to sell more than that for sure. It's a really good looking hat. So I'm guessing you're keeping the production line going.

You're not going to close it down? Absolutely. We've been in touch with our partners. I had email just last night. If we need thousands, we're ready to go. Good. That's awesome. And if people want to buy a Lake Ontario hat,

and it comes in blue and it comes in green. Where do they go? Strong and freehat.ca. Strong and freehat.ca. Liam Mooney, founder of Jack Pine Strategy and Design co-creator of Canada's Not For Sale and the Lake Ontario Hat. Really well done, sir, for supporting these charities, for supporting Canadian manufacturers, for giving us sort of this touchstone for our Canadian identity. I salute you. I commend you. I wish you the very best. Thank you kindly. Good night.