The federal business minister is asking for a assessment of Ottawa’s “enterprise relationship” with Amazon after the corporate mentioned it’ll close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec.
“They will have me preventing to be sure that this isn’t going to go unanswered in Canada,” Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne mentioned.
The closure will eradicate 1,700 everlasting jobs and 250 non permanent ones. It comes after employees at an Amazon warehouse within the Montreal suburb of Laval, Que. managed to unionize in Could.
Amazon is dismissing the suggestion that the closures are linked to a unionization push within the province and says it is about delivering environment friendly and cost-effective providers to clients.
It mentioned in an announcement Friday that it is “comfortable to debate this matter additional with Minister Champagne and different officers in Quebec and Canada.”
Champagne hasn’t mentioned how the federal authorities may reply.
Ottawa has ongoing contracts with Amazon and the federal authorities’s web site lists greater than 200 contracts signed since 2020. The contracts vary from about $10,000 to as excessive as $22.7-million.
“I am not going to inform them what I’ll do prematurely. That is referred to as negotiation 101,” he mentioned. “Allow them to rethink, allow them to determine what we would do as a assessment.”
Amazon has introduced it’ll shut all of its operations in Quebec, leading to practically 2,000 folks dropping their jobs. The choice has some questioning the timing of the closure as a result of one of many amenities had just lately unionized.
Champagne mentioned he spoke with the CEO of Amazon Canada and despatched a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy saying it isn’t too late to rethink. He posted the letter on-line Thursday night.
“We’re standing up. I can inform you they had been fairly stunned,” he mentioned. “I believe we had multiple million views yesterday, so they don’t seem to be used to that form of response from Canada, and I am glad we did it.”
Champagne mentioned the corporate wasn’t clear concerning the extent of the layoffs within the dialog with Amazon, including he obtained solely half the story.
“That is additionally about treating Canada with respect,” he mentioned. “I am even much less happy than I used to be yesterday.”
Following Amazon’s choice to shut its Quebec amenities, some have vowed to cease buying with the corporate in protest, return current purchases and cancel their accounts.
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