VANCOUVER — The resolution by a few members of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to convince the company to stop sourcing products made in Israel was soundly defeated by a majority vote at its annual general meeting last Thursday night in Vancouver.
VANCOUVER — The resolution by a few members of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to convince the company to stop sourcing products made in Israel was soundly defeated by a majority vote at its annual general meeting last Thursday night in Vancouver.
There were 265 members in attendance, and 70 per cent of them voted against the resolution, said Michael Elterman, the Canada-Israel Committee’s Pacific region chairman.
When Elterman arrived at the meeting at 4 p.m., there was a long line of MEC members waiting for admission, while people for and against the resolution circulated pamphlets stating their views.
“The venue [Simon Fraser University’s Segal School of Business], was filled to capacity, and there were at least 20 irate members who could not get in,” he said.
Elterman estimated that members of the Jewish community represented only 25 per cent of those in attendance, and he said he was surprised by the margin of the non-binding resolution’s defeat.
“A number of regular patrons or members of the Christian community came out against the boycott,” he said.
“One of MEC’s upper management came out to talk to the members who had not gained admission and told them that because the vote on this resolution was non-binding, they should continue to send e-mails to the company expressing their feelings about the issue after the vote,” Elterman says.
MEC, which calls itself “Canada’s leading supplier of quality outdoor gear, clothing and camping equipment,” has stores in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax. Anyone who buys an item at the co-op becomes a voting member.
MEC has sourced seamless underwear and hydration systems for backpacks from Israel for the past two years.
The boycott motion was put forward by members of a group called B.C. Teachers for Peace and Global Education. Jewish groups had urged their supporters to attend the meeting to vote against it.
Tim Southam, public affairs manager for MEC, said the company had been apprehensive about antagonism at the meeting. “We’re glad it proceeded in an orderly, civil manner,” he said. “There were people expressing strongly held views both for and against the resolution, but it was very respectful.”
He added: “The defeat of the motion is an affirmation and endorsement of our existing sourcing policies, which emphasize the factory floor and an ethical sourcing program, one we believe serves us well and serves those who make our products well. We intend to have that policy guide us in the future and improve it as best we can over time.”
Elterman said the defeat of the resolution was “an important win for us, because we certainly didn’t want to see the opposition encouraged.”
It’s not CIC Pacific region’s first victory. In recent months, the organization has rallied against three demonstrations held outside B.C. liquor stores aimed at dissuading people from buying Israeli wine.
“We launched a counter-campaign to buy out Israeli wines from Vancouver-area stores, and on each of the three occasions, Israeli wines have been sold out. As a result of the demand for the product, Israeli wines are now displayed in a special section next to those made in other countries, with their own distinct identity,” Elterman said.
Still, he thinks the “boycott Israel” movement won’t go away.
“We’ll have similar challenges in other cities in Canada and on other issues,” he said. “There are so many products being made in Israel these days that there are going to be further challenges. But they will be different from this one at MEC, because the latter is a co-op and many of the other products are made for privately owned companies.”
The CIC plans to urge the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to more closely examine who is speaking in the name of B.C. teachers in the future, Elterman said.