The Quebec government is proposing legislation to improve price transparency in grocery stores and set regulations on tipping requests at restaurants and other businesses.
“It should not be difficult to find the regular price, and yet, it has happened to all of us,” he said during a Sept. 12 news conference at the National Assembly.
If the bill is implemented, grocery stores would need to clearly label the cost of products to specify if items are taxable. And, if a product doesn’t ring up correctly at the cash register, customers would receive a $15 discount instead of the current $10 credit.
The item would be free if its value is less than $15. If it’s more, the consumer would pay the balance once the $15 discount has been applied, according to the bill.
Other in-store changes on the way if the bill passes include implementing a uniform pricing format for grocery store products within the same food category to make it easier for customers to compare items and prominently displaying the price for loyalty members and non-members.
Food economics expert Sylvain Charlebois told The Epoch Times Bill 72 is “a step in the right direction” for Quebec consumers.
Tipping
Aside from changes in grocery stores, the CAQ government also wants to force businesses to exclude provincial and federal sales taxes when calculating a suggested tip.On a restaurant bill of $100 before taxes, for example, the tip suggestions would be calculated on that $100, not on the total after taxes. That would mean the 15 percent tip suggestion would actually be $15, rather than $17.25—the total with the tax included.
Customers would still have the choice to pay a higher or lower tip, or no tip at all, Jolin-Barrette said during the press conference.
“It’s a question of honesty,” he said. “In restaurants, more and more people find themselves under pressure with the [payment] terminal ... whereas previously, people were presented with a bill and then we came back with the terminal.”
Charlebois said the changes to tipping are also a good start, noting that there is a lot of “tipping fatigue” in Canada.
“I’m not sure they’re going far enough, but at least it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.
Charlebois said if the bill is passed in Quebec, there is a good chance other provinces will follow suit with grocery pricing and tipping.
If implemented, Bill 72 would also limit door-to-door HVAC sales as well as the practice of “balloon” loans. Balloon loans involve negative equity, wherein an individual adds outstanding debt from a vehicle that is not fully paid into the financing of a new vehicle purchase.
After being adopted in principle in the National Assembly, the proposed legislation must then be the subject of consultations and an in-depth study by a parliamentary committee before it can be voted on and made law.
