Re: New alarm licensing for Province of Quebec

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 20, 12:35=A0am, Jim <alarmi...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Oct 19, 8:30=A0pm, tourman <robercampb...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Well, it seems the restrictive Quebec unions are finally getting their
> > way. Effective next year, any company installing alarms in Quebec will
> > need a provincial license, which costs $1400 annually for the company,
> > plus $102 for each installer working to install. It will also involve
> > a criminal background for all employees of the company. Fines for
> > companies caught operating without a license will be in the region of
> > $5000 an offence !!
>
> > A recent publication distributed to all wholesalers describes it as a
> > government attempt to move alarm installation from the domain of a
> > trade to that of a more professional level of activity. The real truth
> > is it's an attempt to cozy up to Quebec unions who are notorious for
> > their wish to keep Ontario companies out of fair competition in
> > Quebec, and of course, it's another tax on on the small and big
> > businesses working there (and which will work it's way down to the end
> > price paid by the consumer). It also reflects the fact that there are
> > a lot of scumbags in the business there (as well as in the
> > locksmithing trade). But regardless of the worth of background checks,
> > this is a clear case of killing a fly with a shotgun !!!
>
> > Frankly, I'm so damn tired of Quebec and all their special privileges
> > within Canada, along with their rightly earned place of being the most
> > corrupt province in Canada !! I have dozens of customers across the
> > river from Ottawa in Quebec, and I can tell you I won't stop servicing
> > these accounts because of this bullshit !!
>
> I can under stand that if business were left entirely unsupervised it
> puts the consumer at risk, so "some" regulation is necessary, But,for
> some reason, the bureaucrats can never figure out the point that
> resonsble supervision ends and restrictive control begins and from
> that point on, the more restrictions they put on business the more
> corruption that occurs.

RHC: Yes, I too can completely understand licensing and standards for
what they are intended to do. Where I operate here in Ontario, there
is absolutely no licensing required for locksmithing or alarm and
security installations. We have our share of scummy companies, but not
so many as seem to exist in Quebec.  However, past a certain point,
licensing becomes just another restrictive trade practice as it will
in this case. Trade practices in Quebec are heavily influenced by the
trade unions, and they swing a lot of weight with government. They've
shown they will do anything they can get away with to restrict Ontario
trades working in Quebec. I doubt that many mom and pop type security
businesses will go through the hoops and costs to become legitimate,
leaving only the larger companies to do so, with their generally
poorer service to the buying public.

In some ways it's so typical of the Canadian approach to things....if
a little "control" is necessary, bring it on strong instead, to give
the government more intrusion into it than is necessary by any real
standards or needs.