It’s no surprise that OCAD University alum Liam Mooney and his partner Emma Cochrane have been named Newsmakers of the Year for their design that sparked a national conversation. After all, Canada is not for sale!
The Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade selected the dynamic branding and design duo behind Jackpine Dynamic Branding, an Ottawa-based creative agency, as the recipient of the Newsmakers of the Year award.
Mooney and Cochrane gained national attention with an apparel brand created to support Canada’s sovereignty. It began with baseball caps and toques emblazoned with the phrases “Strong and Free” and “Canada is not for sale,” along with the French versions “Fort et libre” and “Le Canada n’est pas à vendre.”
What started as a creative expression quickly grew into a national statement. The simple yet powerful message resonated with Canadians who wanted to show pride in the country’s independence and identity.
Since its launch, Mooney and Cochrane have received more than 50,000 orders from 30 countries worldwide.
“Seeing people wear the hat across the political spectrum – at Conservative, Liberal and NDP rallies – was both surprising and deeply moving,” says Mooney. “It showed that the message had struck a chord beyond partisan lines. It shows that people want to be together in some way even if they have different views than their neighbour. The fact that so many were willing to publicly align with the brand in such charged spaces speaks to the brand’s rare, unifying appeal.”
Mooney, a 2024 alum of OCAD U’s Strategic Foresight and Innovation program (SFI), never expected his design work would take centre stage in international politics.
He and Cochrane designed the hat after watching a Fox News segment in which host Jesse Watters questioned Premier Ford regarding President Trump’s desire to annex Canada.
The resulting cap, which features a Canadian-designed typeface, is a “creative rebuttal” against President Trump’s talk about annexing Canada. Mooney and Cochrane have described the cap as a small act of patriotism that has exploded into a cross-partisan, national patriotic movement.
“OCAD U’s SFI program taught me to navigate complexity, how to read signals, track indicators, and structure my thinking in a way that helps shape the future, even if we can’t predict it,” adds Mooney. “By listening deeply, engaging politically, and drawing from diverse sources, we were able to sense the country’s mood and tap into a raw nerve that has been exposed.”
Since debuting their famous collection, Mooney and Cochrane have taken part in more than 150 interviews with media outlets from over 50 countries from around the world.
They also shared their wealth of knowledge on creating compelling campaigns at this year’s DemocracyXChange (DXC) summit. Co-produced by OCAD University, The Open Democracy Project and the Dais at TMU, the summit offers keynote speakers, expert panels and participatory workshops, created to both examine and tackle today’s most urgent civic issues.
The Newsmaker(s) of the Year award is part of the Best Ottawa Business Awards – better known as the BOBs – which are presented annually each fall. Mooney and other notable local business leaders will receive their awards at a gala on Friday, November 28, 2025.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
