Although the so-called buy local policies pushed by our governments are popular with the population, it is not clear that they are really effective and really help the economy. Other things bother me too.
For the first point, we can take for example several editions of the MAPAQ annual study on food in Quebec. Once we take into account inflation and population growth, we notice that the purchase of local food is stagnating despite all the initiatives such as the blue “Product of Quebec” labels. (I take into account the decline in recent years in restaurant spending and ready-to-eat products.)
Second, we ultimately buy our imports with our exports. Refusing to import also means refusing to export.
Then, the budget for the purchase of goods by schools is set to the nearest dollar. Are local suppliers more expensive? If this is the case, are we ready to accept that our young people have fewer books or educational materials in order to be able to make more purchases from us?
Are the goods in question even available in Quebec? (One of the reasons I go to Amazon is that they have goods that are not available in Quebec. For example, specialized books — or ones that are no longer in print — may only be sold in Europe.)
Finally, let us point out that a certain number of local companies sell on Amazon. Do some of the goods purchased by our schools actually come from one or more local companies which appear on Amazon to increase their visibility and which, without this, would not have been able to sell to CEGEPs and universities due to lack of awareness?
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