Jack van der Laan runs a men's fashion store in Burlington, Canada. There are many articles in his shop that highlight the special ties between Canada and his country of origin, The Netherlands.

As a child, Jack van der Laan only heard words of praise about Canadians because of the role they played in liberating the Netherlands from the Nazis in 1945. When he emigrated to Canada as a young man, he decided to honour this special relationship between the two nations and founded the Canada Netherlands Friendship Association. As he puts it, "I'm doing it partly for Canada and partly for the Netherlands."

There are numerous pictures and other paraphernalia that recall the ties between Burlington and the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. One of the ties he sells features the Dutch and Canadian flags and the year that the Netherlands was liberated.