Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry François-Philippe Champagne has been arguing with Amazon and pleading with the company to reconsider its warehouse closures in Quebec.
The political figure has tweeted multiple times since Amazon announced that it is pulling out of Canada’s French province on Jan 22. He’s also sent an open letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, hoping to negotiate with the retail giant. However, a report from Global News claims that Champagne will be stuck meeting with regional Canadian Amazon employees.
Amazon is set to close a handful of warehouses and delivery centres across Quebec, putting roughly 1,700 people out of work. There is speculation that this is related to two Amazon centres unionizing in 2024, but the company has dismissed those claims.
Amazon will continue to function for consumers in the province, but it will use third-party shipping solutions instead of its own in-house solutions. This is how the shopping website operated up until 2021, so it shouldn’t come as a significant change to Quebec shoppers.
A Market Watch report claims that the Canadian government might hold close to $50 million in Amazon Web Services contracts, so there is also some speculation that Canada might try to use that as leverage to bring Amazon back.
It seems unlikely that things will change for Amazon in Quebec, as stated in its most recent statement the company has no intention to recant on its plans to leave Quebec.
Source: Market Watch, Global News
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