QUEBEC CITY ― Premier François Legault has ruled out apologizing for controversial comments that appeared to snub RONA. Legault denies calling for a boycott of the banner in expressing his preference for what buying he calls “local products” from “Quebec merchants” like Canac and Patrick Morin. Quebec’s independent RONA affiliates, however, don’t see the remarks as benign. “I’m outraged to see him rejecting Quebec entrepreneurs in this way,” said Isabelle Gauthier of Roch Gauthier & Fils, whose two stores have been in the family for three generations and under the RONA banner for almost 40 years. The premier, she added, has “put all affiliate merchants in the same basket.”
AQMAT, Quebec’s hardware trade group which has championed domestic products through the “Well Made Here” campaign, hasn’t taken Legault’s comments as a sign of support. President Richard Darveau said RONA’s affiliates feel “taken hostage” in a debate that doesn’t involve them.
