Le Panier Bleu: $16 million thrown into the fire!

In April 2020, the CAQ government launched the popular Blue Basket. According to the company's website: “Le Panier Bleu offers a Quebec alternative to international e-commerce giants.”

Initially, the Quebec platform wasn't even transactional, it was just a show. The tool has improved over time but it has to be said that it is a waste of time and money.

In addition, we learned earlier in the week that a company called Les Produits du Québec had signed a deal with Amazon. The American giant will now identify products from here. So, no need for a blue basket anymore, you just have to throw it in the trash quickly.

about 7%

In 2022, the NETendances 2022 report from the Academy of Digital Transformation demonstrated that Quebecers used Le Panier Bleu for 7% of their purchase volume.

However, Amazon took first place with 46%, while Quebec, Canadian and foreign merchant sites represented 47% of purchase volume.

This study shows very clearly that Quebec does not need a blue basket. Why do politicians rack their brains so much to put in place tools or programs that we don't need?

Most absurdly, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon also acknowledged Tuesday that Amazon is “a very good platform where many Quebec companies want to be.”

example

Now, let's take Le Panier Bleu as an example not to be followed by our elected officials. Quebecers are open to the world. They use the same sites as often and English Canadians or Americans.

We might say Quebec is a special society, but when we talk about buying products on the web, we're really North Americans.

Remember that when Eric Girard presented his deficit budget in the spring, the government wasted 16 million on Le Panier Bleu.