Buying Local: A Nightmare

Jimmy Lajoie-Boucher — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:58:40 +0000

The month of September promotes buying local. Yet, to buy local, you first must be able to identify the origin of the products, and then, have the means to pay for those products. After looking into the matter, the Courrier Laval News reveals it’s more difficult than it seems.

For the past few months, all politicians and merchants have been telling consumers the importance of buying local. With inflation and labour shortage crises, made worse by the pandemic, every country is promoting local consumption.

However, it can be very hard to properly identify, especially in grocery stores, the origin of food. Sometimes, even misleading information is displayed.

Between Deception and Marketing

The line may seem thin between a marketing technique and outright deception. However, this line seems to widen when the merchant himself displays two completely different information.

For example, when entering a Maxi, we can read “Quebec apples” on a poster. When taking a closer look at those apples, we can see the brand name, Prima Frutta, followed by the acronym USA (United States) on the label adorning the fruit.

After verifying, Prima Frutta is indeed an American company, based in California, whose main activity is the cultivation of apples and cherries. However, on the label mentioned, it’s clearly written “provenance: Quebec”.

Asked about the reason for such a statement, which is obviously false by looking at what we’ve just learned, the management of the establishment relays the question to his subordinate, in charge of fruits and vegetables. The latter will also relay the question, this time to the manager of the grocery store, who’ll conclude by saying he can’t answer the question because he’s not trained in the matter.

The Courrier Laval News also looked at another category of food Quebec is rich in resources… seafood.

In several food markets, such as Maxi, but also IGA for example, packaging with questionable names emerged. The SeaQuest and President Choice brands are selling Pacific shrimp… from India. Unfortunately, although India is a huge peninsula coming out into an ocean, it turns out to be the Indian Ocean and nowhere on its territory does the country touch the Pacific Ocean.

The Green Choice brand sells “wild Argentinian shrimp” processed in Vietnam, before crossing the world a second time to end up on our shelves. A long journey that misleads the consumer as to the real origin of the product.

The Price

The research carried out has also revealed it’s not given to everyone to buy local. The apple, emblematic fruit of Quebec, is less expensive, if not at the same price as its competitors. Those from the United States, Chile or Fiji are between $2.49 and $2.99 per pound. As for those of Quebec, they’re minimum $2.49 per pound.

To get the fruit, and this, from Quebec, it’s necessary to fall back on the reserves of last year, which are being sold $1.29. Another common fruit that is produced here is the tomato. This one is sold for $2.99 per pound, compared to its Mexican counterpart, which is only $2.49 per pound.

When it comes to seafood, there is sole, a fish that isn’t lacking in Quebec. They’re being sold for $36.35 per kilo, while those from China are $20.92. The trend is similar for other similar products such as the Canadian trout at $33.05 per kilo, against $31.95 for Peruvian trout.

A response from the Office de protection du consommateur is still awaited for this article.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Buying Local: A Nightmare est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Laval Says Yes to the Establishment of a Cité du Cinéma

Stéphane St-Amour — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 18:00:33 +0000

The eastern sector of Laval would apparently become a hub for film and television production.

In a recent meeting, the municipal council adopted two resolutions in the hope of concretizing the project to set up a Cité du cinema on the land located in the south-west axis of avenue Marcel-Villeneuve and rue de l’Harmonie, in Saint-François.

Zoning and Promise to Purchase

After starting the rezoning change process in order to accommodate “a world-class cinema complex”, the elected officials present at the meeting approved by 11 votes to two the sale of two municipal lands to promoter and Laval resident Michel Trudel, for the sum of 32.1 million dollars.

In fact, the promise of purchase is conditional on obtaining a zoning change. Right now, 60 per cent of the 2.2 million square feet aimed by this request for modification of authorized uses are zoned residential. The remaining 40 per cent is already destined for industrial development.

Divergences

Resolutions were not unanimous at the municipal council table, and within municipal services.

If the Mouvement lavallois had the support of Action Laval, whose municipal councillor Isabelle Piché is the elected representative of Saint-François, it couldn’t count on the support of the two councillors from the second opposition group.

Recognizing this project as “fantastic from an economic point of view”, the interim leader of Parti Laval, Claude Larochelle, said he didn’t have all the necessary information to be able to vote. His request to postpone some points to a future session was defeated. In general, Larochelle wanted to make sure this was “the best site” available in Laval.

Opportunity

Mayor of Laval Stéphane Boyer mostly described it as an “opportunity” to be seized.

“A serious and credible promoter is proposing an interesting project […] that would develop a whole new industry in Laval,” Boyer said. “It would have a low environmental impact, and enormous economic consequences, while creating a lot of jobs in the eastern sector of Laval.”

The man behind this $200 million investment project is Trudel, co-founder of MELS studios, which he directed for more than three decades in Montreal. Working in the film industry for 40 years, we owe him the filming of several Hollywood mega-productions in the metropolitan area.

In terms of jobs, Boyer mentioned “200 to 500 employees”, as well as a training centre that would accommodate “up to 300 students”. In addition to boosting the local economy, that clientele would help accelerate the development of eastern Laval, including public transport’s services.

“It’s the only option in Laval” Boyer insisted when discussing the location. “If it’s not there, the project won’t be realized.”

Cinematographic Complex

The Cité du Cinéma would be built on an area equivalent to some 30 soccer fields.

In addition to the seven shooting studios housed in the cinematographic complex, there would be production offices, a warehouse for set decorations, administrative offices, a film school, as well as costume making, set production and mechanical transformation-animation workshops.

To put things into perspective, these facilities would double the total area currently available with the MELS 2 and MELS 3 studios in the Technoparc de Montréal.

The Cité du cinema that Trudel plans to build in Laval would increase filming capacity in Quebec by 40 to 50 per cent, the promoter said.