Amazon slams the door on Quebec, nearly 2,000 jobs lost

Amazon's closure of its Quebec operations follows the unionization of Laval warehouse workers in May 2024. Former provincial Conservative leader Adrien Pouliot blames high taxes, heavy regulations and government interference for driving businesses away.

Amazon recently announced the closure of its operations in Quebec, resulting in the elimination of approximately 1,700 full-time jobs and 250 seasonal positions. This decision comes after employees at the Laval warehouse became the first in Canada to unionize in May 2024, affiliating with the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN).

Although Amazon attempted to block the unionization process, the Administrative Labour Tribunal condemned the company for obstructing the workers’ efforts, including allegations of spreading anti-union messages.

To understand the situation, we interviewed Adrien Pouliot, former leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, who shared his perspective on the reasons behind the closure.

According to Pouliot, Amazon’s decision is largely linked to the complexity of the business climate in Quebec. “What’s really too bad is that politicians are focusing on Amazon, but they should look in their own backyard and ask themselves why they’re doing this,” he explains.

The former Quebec Conservative leader adds that high taxes and heavy regulation are key factors: “Taxes are too high, environmental regulations are too restrictive, language regulations, and so on.”

He also emphasizes that government grants to businesses, rather than stimulating the economy, are a waste of taxpayer money. 

“These subsidies aren’t there for the success of companies; they’re there to buy votes,” he says.

Pouliot further criticizes the role of unions, noting they no longer truly serve workers but impose constraints on them. “Unions, instead of being at the service of employees, have become almost the reverse.”

He concludes by calling for a reduction in taxes and bureaucracy to attract real wealth-generating businesses to Quebec, stating that the province needs to lessen the state's grip in order to foster innovation and investment.

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Alexandra Lavoie

Quebec based Journalist

Alexa graduated with a degree in biology from Laval University. Throughout her many travels, she has seen political instability as well as corruption. While she witnessed social disorder on a daily basis, she has always been a defender of society’s most vulnerable. She’s been around the world several times, and now joins Rebel News to shed light on today’s biggest stories.

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-01-31 17:03:36 -0500
    Once again, unionism screws the workers. So has big government chased away job opportunities. Yet the government leaders can’t understand. They figure that the more taxes and regulations the better. Wise leaders incentivise businesses but stupid ones chase them away.