I Love Canadian Tire Money

....so this hurts.

Yes, I'm about to get political again, so those of you who get nervous when I do that can just skip over this post. I just read about this at promptings.

[Update: My original article was a little confusing because I was in such a hurry, so I'm adding an explanatory note here. Canadian Tire is going to sponsor the six episodes of Global TV's planned series "My Fabulous Gay Wedding." From the linked piece:

The Corporation has thus far refused to cancel its sponsorship of the program despite multiple complaints.

Responding to one concerned Canadian about its sponsorship of the controversial show, a Customer Relationship Representative, speaking for Canadian Tire’s “entire team” stated, “The decision to sponsor this show was part of an overall marketing and advertising plan aimed at promoting our new gift registry service to engaged couples.”]

I think the Canadian Tire Company is making a big mistake, and I've sent this email off to the address given in the linked article:

I've recently discovered that Canadian Tire will be sponsoring My Fabulous Gay Wedding. I understand that it's important for a company to appeal to all sorts of customers, but I believe that in choosing to sponsor this particular show, Canadian Tire is stepping over the line from simply being inclusive of all to promoting something that is going to offend a substantial number of the customers it already has. Like me. Like my sons.

Canadian Tire, until now, has been a big part of our lives--our first choice for almost everything except the groceries that we buy. We like the service; we like the products; we like the prices. We like the easy return policy. And we love Canadian Tire money. Since we live in the north, we don't have as many different places to shop as we might if we lived elsewhere, but we are willing to stop buying from Canadian Tire if the company chooses to go ahead with the sponsorship of My Fabulous Gay Wedding.

We believe strongly that a gay person should never be treated with anything but kindness, but we also believe just as strongly that marriage is something that is between one man and one woman. This is one of our core values, our essential beliefs, and we cannot in good conscious help contribute, through our purchasing, to a company that actively promotes something that goes against this core value we hold. So the windshield wiper and motor oil that I bought yesterday will be our last purchase from Canadian Tire for as long as we can hold out, or until we find out that the company has withdrawn it's sponsorship.

Thank you for taking the time to consider what I've written.

[Update: I rooted around a bit and found multiple confirmations of this story from various sites, some from industry promotional sites. I did learn that the rumours (I hadn't heard them) that Loblaws/Superstore were also sponsors are false.]