Despite its relatively limited economic powers over Russia, the government of François Legault wants to do everything in its power to contribute to economic sanctions against the Kremlin.
Quebec is therefore “looking” at the possibility of removing any Russian product from the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) shelves. “We want to penalize as much as possible [le président Vladimir] Putin, then Russia,” Prime Minister Legault raised on Friday on the sidelines of a press briefing in Repentigny.
Earlier Friday, the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, demanded from the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, that he put an end to the sale of Russian products in Quebec state companies. The day before, he had maintained that he was awaiting “international developments” before moving forward.
SAQ branches across Quebec sell “a dozen” Russian alcoholic products, according to state-owned company spokesperson Yann Langlais Plante. Given their limited number, they are only ordered occasionally and “no restocking is planned for the moment”.
However, “it is not the role of the SAQ to play politics,” added Mr. Langlais Plante. The SAQ will end the sale of Russian spirits only if Quebec expressly requests it.
Since the Russian attack in Ukraine, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, several representatives of the Legault government have relied on the federal government to apply the main sanctions against Moscow. Ottawa also announced on Thursday significant economic sanctions against several of President Putin’s close allies.
On the provincial level, the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, for his part ordered on Friday to cease the sale of Russian products in the branches of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario – the Ontario equivalent of the SAQ. In the morning, the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, Steven Del Duca, had demanded it in a tweet.
Further details will follow.