François Legault was open to “labeling” products made by companies owned by women in Quebec to better identify them to consumers.
The Prime Minister promised to consider this idea in front of an audience of several dozen entrepreneurs gathered at the Marriott Château Champlain hotel in downtown Montreal on Tuesday morning.
“In the same way that we want to give a label for Quebec products, I will be open to looking, without adding bureaucracy, to labeling companies that are owned by women,” said Mr. Legault, who was then warmly applauded by those who came to attend a conference of the Réseau des femmes d’affaires du Québec (RFAQ).
He was answering questions from RFAQ President and CEO Ruth Vachon following a speech.
Ms. Vachon wondered how it was possible to better identify women-owned businesses on the market.
“To encourage you, a few years ago Walmart did a survey, and when a consumer knows that a product is made by a woman, his rating [de popularité] rises enormously, ”she mentioned to the chief caquiste.
Mr. Legault also said that his government is analyzing the possibility of targeting “at least a certain percentage” of public contracts awarded to companies led by women or members of diversity, specifying that caution remains, however, because of the various rules preventing favoritism.
According to him, it is “clear” that the number of women in company management positions will increase in a few years. “It’s math. There is a growing need to have education, training, then women are better than boys at school, ”said Mr. Legault in his speech.
Le Panier bleu soon to be transactional
In addition, François Legault reiterated that the Blue Basket will soon have a transactional component to compete with Amazon. An announcement will be made shortly, he said.
“The idea with the Blue Basket is to help all businesses sell online and to help Quebecers buy from Quebec,” said Mr. Legault.
“I have nothing against Amazon, but sometimes when you buy products on Amazon, they are American products,” he said.
“Private partners” in information technology have been found to develop the transactional component of the platform. The next step will be to find companies ensuring the delivery of orders, underlined the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec. Canada Post will start shipping the products.
Earlier this spring, Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibon confirmed that Quebec will inject more money into the project, which is mainly a list of products. The government has injected $4.1 million into the adventure since its launch in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
Only 14% of Quebecers have used the Blue Basket, according to a NETendances survey released in March. Just under half of respondents, 46%, said they would use the tool once it has a transactional component.