With community interest regarding a possible boycott of Israeli products by Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) running high, the CIC would like to emphasize that MEC already has an excellent policy on ethical sourcing which should not be changed.
In fact, MEC has a blog devoted to Ethical Sourcing that includes two recent posts on the Israel boycott controversy. In the post Israel, Apartheid and Boycotts, Harvey Chan, MEC’s director for ethical sourcing, writes:
MEC is a Co-op retailer with a mandate to get Canadians outdoor by selling them the right gear and giving them the relevant technical insight. MEC is neither a political activist group nor a human rights body. Nonetheless, we believe business can and should improve the human condition behind manufacturing.  To this end, MEC takes a Canadian and international view of our global supply chain. Just as creed and country are not barriers to being an MEC member, we do not divide our supply chain along political lines. In short, we will not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our human rights efforts are squarely focused on our supply chain—on working to improve the factory conditions and treatment of the workers that make MEC-brand products. As much as this is cowardice to some or a sell out to others, it is our conviction and our intent is to not veer from this belief.
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