While some traders complain about the imposition of the vaccination passport in supermarkets, liberals and solidarity believe that this is a necessary evil. However, they want hardware stores to be an exception to the rule.
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Verification made with the office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, as of January 24, the vaccine passport will indeed be required in hardware stores with an area of 1500 square meters or more.
As announced Thursday, the unvaccinated will no longer have access to businesses such as Walmart, Costco and Canadian Tire. Only grocery stores and pharmacies will be exempt.
The objective is to protect “as much the vaccinated as the non-vaccinated between them”, argues the press secretary of Mr. Dubé, Marjaurie Côté-Boileau.
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade finds it hard to understand why hardware stores are not among the essential businesses benefiting from an exemption. This is, according to her, another “inconsistency” among the measures decreed by the government.
Québec solidaire MP Vincent Marissal essentially agrees. “If you have a pipe that farts, it takes equipment,” he illustrates.
“The government must show consistency,” also reacted the parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois, Joël Arseneau. “Hardware stores were essential services during the confinement of the first wave,” he recalled.
A step in the right direction
Otherwise, the leader of the PLQ, who has been campaigning for a while to expand the use of the vaccine passport, judges that its imposition in supermarkets is “a step in the right direction”.
“If restaurants are able to use the vaccine passport, I don’t see why the Walmarts of this world wouldn’t be able to do it,” she considers.
“It is the most reasonable of all the unpleasant measures, since it is still necessary to pass a small message to people who are not vaccinated”, estimates for its part the united deputy of Rosemont.
“Honestly, hanging out for two hours at Costco fiddling with all the products, then waiting for the tastings at the end of all the aisles, I’m not sure that’s a very good idea if you’re not vaccinated, believes Mr. Marissal. And is it essential? The answer is no.”
The Parti Québécois’ position on this measure is less clear. “Are there more risks of contagion in supermarkets? What will be the next step?” asks Mr. Arseneau.
“The government did not consult us when setting up the vaccine passport. There, he announces the extension to the piece, according to the polls, ”he denounces.