Federal Minister of Industry François-Philippe Champagne considers it “unacceptable” when he learned in the media that the closure of Amazon warehouses in Quebec will lead to a greater release than originally announced.
The American electronic trade giant on Wednesday announced that the closure of its seven distribution centers in Quebec would cause the release of 1700 permanent employees and a loss of 250 temporary jobs.
On Thursday, however, some media revealed that, according to data provided by the Quebec Ministry and Social Solidarity, 1,459 layout in Amazon partner companies dealing with delivery will also occur.
Mr. Champagne, who spoke to Amazon Canada on Wednesday, said he was not informed about these additional transmission during this interview.
After his arrival at the election club, his political party on Friday morning in Ottawa did not intend to condemn the “lack of respect” by Amazon.
“I had to call, and not only I wasn’t telling me the whole story, I got half the story of the media I heard that they would release other people,” he said.
“We have 3,000 people there, so I consider it absolutely unacceptable. This is not the way we trade. (…) Under the circumstances, I think it is disrespectful to discuss with the Federal authorities and not be transparent. »
Minister Champagne claimed that in the G7 economy, such as Canada, “we expect our staff, industry and Canada to be treated with respect.”
In Amazon, he assured that he regularly communicates with representatives of Canada “to discuss topics of interest”.
“However, when we make this operative decision, we usually first inform our employees and then representatives. We would like to continue this discussion with Minister Champagne and other official representatives of Quebec and Canada, ”said the company by e-mail.
Reviews of commercial links
On Thursday, François-Philippe Champagne also wrote directly to the President and CEO of Amazon Andy Jassy to call on a multinational society to “immediately” consider the closure of its warehouses in Quebec.
According to the Minister, this decision of Amazon is “against the (his) desire to be a leader and a strategic partner in the Canadian industrial economy.”
“The decision you announced (on Wednesday) is unlikely to wake up trust and raises questions about your obligation to Canada and your Canadian partners,” he wrote in his letter and at the same time expressed his “deep disappointment”.
Mr. Champagne argued Mr. Jassy that “it is not too late” to reconsider this decision and recalled that the “Amazon distribution centers in Quebec play a key role in the” trade “supply chain.
Minister Champagne expressed concern about the “massive and sudden” permission that will occur as a result of closure, and issued a warning of the company based in Seattle.
“You will undoubtedly understand that this action requires revision of business relations that exist between the Amazon and the Canadian government,” he warned.
Mr. Champagne invited Mr. Jassy to further discuss this problem, and repeated that “Amazon has considerable advantages from the Canadian economy.”
Change of model
Amazon will close its seven distribution centers in Quebec over the next two months. The online sales giant justified its decision by wanting to “return to the model of third -party delivery supported by small local businesses, similar to that (had) in 2020”.
Instead, the chairwoman of ČSN Caroline Senneville accused Amazon of acting in retaliation for the trade union organization that occurred in the Laval warehouse, which the company denied.
Amazon Canada said that employees who were abandoned would be entitled to “temporary benefits, such as external resources to move employment” and compensation of up to 14 weeks.
With information from Stéphan Rolland and émilie Bergeron
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