Canada calls for review of ‘business relationship’ with Amazon after Quebec closures [Video]

The federal industry minister is calling for a review of Ottawa’s “business relationship” with Amazon after the company said it will close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec.

“They’ll have me fighting to make sure that this is not going to go unanswered in Canada,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.

The closure will eliminate 1,700 permanent jobs and 250 temporary ones. It comes after workers at an Amazon warehouse in the Montreal suburb of Laval, Que. managed to unionize in May.

Amazon is dismissing the suggestion that the closures are linked to a unionization push in the province and says it’s about delivering efficient and cost-effective services to customers.

It said in a statement Friday that it’s “happy to discuss this matter further with Minister Champagne and other officials in Quebec and Canada.”

Champagne hasn’t said how the federal government might respond.

Ottawa has ongoing contracts with Amazon and the federal government’s website lists more than 200 contracts signed since 2020. They range in value from …