Quebec Premier François Legault wants to award more public contracts to underrepresented groups, including “women [et] diversity”, thanks to the establishment of certain criteria.
Posted at 11:59
The head of the Coalition avenir Québec spoke Tuesday morning to members of the Quebec Business Women’s Network at the Cap vers la Réussite conference at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Montreal.
Responding to a question from a participant who wanted to know if the Government of Quebec could put in place criteria to favor certain under-represented groups in its calls for tenders, such as women or cultural minorities, François Legault specified that he was already looking at that possibility.
« Sonia [LeBel, la présidente du Conseil du trésor] already has this objective. On the other hand, she wants to be careful, because legally, it is not clear, ”he says.
The Autorité des marchés publics and interprovincial rules on calls for tenders would notably prevent the Quebec government from favoring certain companies when awarding contracts.
“Whether it’s diversity, whether it’s women, whether it’s simply supporting Quebec businesses, we have to look at what we can do legally, but nothing prevents us from saying: let’s aim for a certain percentage”, says François Legault.
“What we are doing is putting amounts, that is to say [pour un contrat de] $100,000 or $500,000, can we make exceptions? That’s what we’re looking at,” he continued.
The Prime Minister also said he was in favor of implementing incentives to encourage female entrepreneurship, including specific labeling for products from companies run by women.
A transactional blue basket soon
The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec also took the opportunity to let it be known that he will announce that it will be possible to carry out transactions on the Panier bleu site.
Asked later whether this platform could eventually compete with major transactional sites such as Amazon, François Legault said that the Blue Basket should also include a delivery component.
“We will start with Canada Post, but eventually, we will have to develop that as well. But the idea with the Blue Basket is to help all businesses sell online, and to help Quebecers,” he explained.
“Amazon is worrying. Every country is worried about Amazon, because I watch when my guys were home, it looks like there are boxes coming in every week and it’s American products. So, very big challenge, “says the Prime Minister alarmed.
Launched at the start of the pandemic by his government to stimulate local purchasing, the concept, which essentially made it possible to list Quebec merchants and products, had come under heavy criticism since it did not allow consumers to carry out transactions directly. on the site.
Nearly nine months after its creation, in January 2021, the non-profit organization (NPO) Le Panier bleu announced the establishment of a Quebec online shopping platform bringing together all local retailers who would like join it.
This market place was supposed to allow consumers to do their shopping there in the autumn of the same year. The project did not materialize.