While the Legault government is working on a plan that would seek to require the vaccine passport to enter the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) and the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), several other traders believe they will be next on the list. However, this possibility is considered to be “difficult to apply” by the Retail Council of Canada (RCC).
“I feel like this is the next step. I think it’s just a matter of time, ”says Anne Lespérance, owner of the Belle et Rebelle and Ananas & Bananas clothing stores in Montreal.
At a press conference last week, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, did not hide his intention to find measures to convince the unvaccinated to raise their sleeve.
Although she intends to comply with this new restriction, if Quebec imposes it, Mr.me Lespérance affirms that this will increase the task of traders, greatly affected by the labor shortage. She would like to see a way of directly targeting people who have not received a vaccine rather than putting in place measures which, according to her, “penalize everyone else”.
“Like a lot of government decisions, it’s up to companies to get away with it overnight when the announcements fall,” she said. A business is a little more complicated. People come and go. Sometimes people come in for three minutes and come out. ”
On the Plateau Mont-Royal, Manon Gauthier, vice-president of the Tony Pappas shoe store, believes that if the new measure comes into effect, it will be easier to manage at this time of year, since there is has less traffic in January and February. On the other hand, in the spring, the queues are likely to lengthen, she warns.
For his part, the president of the CCCD for Quebec considers that the verification of the vaccination passport is a much too heavy responsibility for young workers who, posted at the door, should face sometimes unhappy customers.
“These are employees who will have to explain this to customers,” recalls Michel Rochette. We would put all this in the hands of a few employees who would be asked, without any particular tool other than their personal phone, to manage vaccine passports. Merchants are now at their wit’s end to keep just enough staff afloat to handle supply and minimal customer service. In addition, there are the queues that employees have to manage. ”
Mr. Rochette also noted that the whole notion of essential trade – where consumers would not be required to show off – will be difficult to define. “Which businesses are going to be considered essential or not? I imagine that [le gouvernement] could not extend this obligation to food stores. ”
The CCCD has been in regular discussions with Quebec since the start of the pandemic. Michel Rochette, however, remained discreet about the content of these exchanges. What did he say about the vaccination passport? “The messages that [j’envoie] now have certainly been given to the government, ”he replied.
At the Quebec Retail Council (CQCD), Director General Jean-Guy Côté would not be surprised either if the government imposes passports on customers of certain stores, which would amplify the labor problem. He recalls that there are currently more than 25,000 positions to be filled in the sector in Quebec. “We’re not bad in the upper limits,” he said.