It is this Tuesday that the ax falls. Non-vaccinated persons will no longer be able to enter the premises of the SAQ or the SQDC, where they will henceforth be required to present their vaccination passport.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Will it be panic among antivax or among some 540,000 Quebecers who, without being militants, have not presented their shoulder in one of the vaccination centers? Probably not. The Press was able to identify no less than seven ways to obtain alcoholic beverages or cannabis despite everything.
“There are indeed other ways to access these products,” agrees Vardit Ravitsky, professor of bioethics programs at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal. “The approach is to increase the pressure on unvaccinated people by choice. So we’re adding requirements in the hope that it will produce results, but it’s not based on scientific data. »
Law professor at Laval University Louis-Philippe Lampron adds that it is “a symbolic measure”.
“Indirectly, it’s an incentive to get vaccinated, but the objective behind the vaccine passport is to protect the population by saying that the vaccine is a condition that can significantly reduce the spread of COVID- 19, and that’s what we need to get out of the crisis,” he explains.
Here’s how you can get your supplies without setting foot at the SAQ or the SQDC.
Alcohol
SAQ agencies
The SAQ has 406 regular branches, which will not be accessible to the unvaccinated. But the state corporation has also built a substantial network of agencies – there are no less than 429 – which are in fact mini-branches housed in grocery stores and convenience stores in villages in Quebec. However, proof of vaccination is not required in SAQ agencies. Why ? In order not to increase the task of the owners of these businesses, it is explained, and because these points of sale are often found in essential businesses where the obligation of the vaccination passport is not in force.
As a result, for Quebecers who live outside urban centers, the government ban will pose absolutely no problem, except for a more limited choice of products. It can also be noted that the existence of these agencies will favor Quebecers in the regions over those in the major centres. There are no agencies in Montreal.
Online orders
We often forget that there is a way to order products online at the SAQ. This mode of purchase is relatively little used, it represents only about 3% of total sales. If all the products are not accessible, the choice is however very wide, but the delivery times do not make it possible to fill a pressing need: it generally takes five to seven days. There is another problem: you have to pay $12 for home delivery.
Grocery stores and convenience stores
Let’s not forget either that Quebecers are also beer drinkers. In 2019-2020, 39% of sales of alcoholic beverages were indeed beer, which represents 46% of the alcohol ingested, according to Statistics Canada. And beer, in Quebec, unlike Ontario, can be found in convenience stores and grocery stores. This is how the health measure penalizes non-vaccinated wine and alcohol drinkers more than those who prefer hops. Note that grocery stores and convenience stores also offer wine. According to the SAQ, 10% of its sales are made in the grocery store network.
Private agencies
The unvaccinated will also have the option of ordering wine online from private import agencies, some of which offer door-to-door delivery.
Ontario
Finally, for non-vaccinated people who are not too far from Ontario, there is a way to drop by a branch of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), where the vaccine passport is not is not required.
Cannabis
cannabis online
PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The SQDC now requiring the vaccine passport, the non-vaccinated could turn to home production or the black market.
Cannabis consumers will also be able to take advantage of the Internet. The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) itself boasts of its online site: “Avoid the queues. Shop online when it suits you. In complete confidentiality. » Deliveries, faster than for alcohol, take between 1 and 3 working days, and the charge is $5 per order. For $4 more, the SQDC promises to deliver the same day with its express delivery service 7 days a week in Greater Montreal. “We are ready to receive higher traffic on our website if the number of orders increases,” said spokesperson Fabrice Giguère.
Black market
There is another option which is not legal: the black market. In its most recent annual report, the SQDC was pleased with the fact that legal transactions now account for 53% of the market in Quebec. This means that the black market remains flourishing and is able to supply the non-vaccinated who would be penalized by the vaccination passport requirement. As we know, young people under the age of 21 are not allowed to buy cannabis at the SQDC. For them, where we probably find a certain proportion of the unvaccinated, the measure will not change anything.