Wal-Mart Quebec

Last Sunday we went to Wal-Mart. I did not think there were any Wal-Marts in Quebec, because I remember news from many years ago that they shut down a store in St. Hyacinthe rather than allow its workers to organize. Nonetheless, there are many Wal-Mart stores in Quebec today. Wal-Mart first found success with stores in smaller towns in the Midwest and South, where people were not affluent and in any case had few retail options. The same holds true for much of Canada outside the major cities. But unlike the US South, Canada does not have anti-Union laws. The United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada has had some success in organizing workers here. Their website does not say which stores or how many workers they represent, but it explains the card-check process that applies in Quebec, which is similar to what we have in Oregon.

Our trip to Walmart, at a huge and hideous Gallerie Mall in suburban Quebec City, entailed waiting for several minutes, through three light cycles, to turn left into the complex. We also had to wait another ten minutes, Hannah and I, just to buy a soccer ball. Walmart was doing plenty of business that day. It was depressing to be stuck in there on a warm and sunny day. Fortunately, when we finally got out and returned to the hockey rink nearby where Josh was having baseball practice, Hannah and I explored the Parc Chauveau next to the rink. The Riviere Saint-Charles flows through the park, and it has lively rapids and small cliffs alongside. The shale there makes stones perfect for skipping, which Hannah loved.  This park is part of a "parc linéaire" that runs for 32 kilometers along the St. Charles.

Not only does Quebec City have Wal-Mart, they also have Costco! Our friends the Robichauds who lived for ten years in Georgia before moving back to Quebec three years ago, told me that when they go to Costco, it's like a visit back to the USA. "Even the people are fatter!" Catherine said. But Target is not yet found here, although Louis Robichaud said that Target's parent company has bought out some of the Zeller's stores formerly run by the Hudson's Bay company. The Robichauds would like to see Target in Canada.