SAQ, 100 years of selling alcohol | The Press

In the midst of prohibition, 100 years ago today, the Commission des liqueurs was born, the first government corporation in Quebec. An immediate success for the ancestor of the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ): $4 million for the first seven months of operation. From its beginnings, when you asked a clerk for your bottle, through a mesh partition, to receive it in a brown paper bag, to today, the SAQ has seen all the colors.

The lucrative prohibition

It is not yesterday that the alcohol trade is subject to a monopoly in the Quebec. Jean Talon had given an innkeeper the exclusive right to sell alcohol in Quebec City, as early as 1648. The name of the innkeeper? Jacques Boisdon, it cannot be invented. His estaminet was located on the Côte de la Fabrique, where there is a Simons store today.

The consumption of alcohol and its trade will raise concerns and criticisms of the Church for decades. Governments will follow. In 1898, Canada held a massive referendum to ban the sale of alcohol. Quebec votes against at 81%, the Laurier government does not go further. In 1910, the Gouin government in Quebec wanted to reassess the idea, a commission of inquiry decided: prohibition was still impossible.

But the movement in favor of prohibition does not consider itself defeated. The federal government passes on the thorny issue to the provinces, which will throw it in the courts of the municipalities. Referendums were held in a series of towns in 1915: Trois-Rivières, Lévis, Lachine, Sainte-Agathe and Terrebonne would become “dry”. Quebec will join the group in 1917. New consultation in 1918, 78% of the votes are favorable to the sale of beer, cider and wine, “temperance” products with a low alcohol content, ie 2.5%. This regime only lasts two years.

In January 1919, in the United States, the Volstead Act prohibited the sale and transport of alcohol throughout the country. In Quebec, another referendum. Prohibition is defeated by an overwhelming majority. Quebec, until 1921, became the only territory in North America where the trade in spirits was legal. At the end of the dry regime in the United States, in 1933, an estimated 45 million liters will have crossed the border illegally.

A new phenomenon is appearing in Quebec; “bootleggers” – so nicknamed because smugglers can insert flasks of spirits into their boots – are on the increase.

Conrad Labelle, the “tsar” of smuggling, smuggles thousands of cases of alcohol across the border near Lacolle. Customs officers agree to turn a blind eye for $1,000 a day, the equivalent of $15,000 today. A liter of whiskey, which is worth $1.28 in Quebec, sees its value multiplied by seven on the other side of the border.

To get through police roadblocks, his Cadillac has a bulletproof fuel tank. Another car has a piece of railway track as a front bumper. Others put ammonia in their mufflers, producing a cloud of smoke that covers their leak.

In the fall of 1923, Conrad Labelle’s convoy of 20 cars and 3 trucks was seized by some thirty American agents in Plattsburgh. The same year, he was expelled from the United States for a fight with an American official. A few weeks later, drunk, he commits a hit and run in his Cadillac: he zigzags on the coast of Beaver Hall, flees at top speed, he is shot. It ends its journey by crashing into a wall on Rue De La Gauchetière. He ends up in the hospital and on one of La Presse. In his old age – he will live to be 98 – he will tell his adventures many times. We will even see him on Call Me Lise, a cult show in the 1970s.

In Témiscouata, near the village of Rivière-Bleue, this is the territory of Alfred Lévesque. We have not found its 150 m tunnel dug to reach Maine. It has 500 cars and 800 employees. Lévesque will recycle himself in the legal trade after prohibition, just like an Ontario colleague, Samuel Seagram.

Paul Lafrenais, known as the Frenchie, born in Lévis, is part of Al Capone's entourage. The alcohol he carries circulates in major American cities concealed in bakery or soft drink trucks.

In Beauce, a smuggler, Olévine, and her accomplices will spend many "forty ounces" in their bodice, until the moment when the American customs hire women as inspectors to search the suspects.

The islands of Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Gulf, in particular Anticosti, are strategic relays. Ships can leave them unmolested, up to the rum line, US territorial waters. Sales of molasses will double at some point in Bas-du-Fleuve. The rotgut prepared there can cause blindness and the stills can explode.

The possibility of drinking in Quebec is a powerful contributor to tourism from the United States. We come for a getaway by train, to Sutton or Frelighsburg, for a “soup”, a glass of spirits. In Sutton, a station agent who is overzealous in the fight against smuggling is the victim of an attempted murder. Rue Clark, in Montreal, brothels, gambling dens and illicit refreshments are multiplying. Red lanterns attest to their activity, it is the Red Light, an expression that will live for a long time.

From the Liquor Commission to the Société des alcools

On May 1, 1921, the Liquor Commission, created by the Liberal government of Alexandre Taschereau, opened 53 branches. It was a great innovation, unparalleled in North America. It was even the first Crown corporation in Quebec.

The United States had imposed prohibition two years earlier. Similarly, in Quebec, many municipalities would long oppose the opening of liquor commission stores on their territory.

“That is why there is no SAQ branch on the territory of the former city of Outremont,” observes Louis Roquet, former president of the Société des alcools. You could then buy alcohol in Quebec, but not in Lévis. In Montreal, but not in Chicoutimi or Rimouski.

The monopoly that the provincial government has won has raised criticism. The bishop of Quebec, Paul-Eugène Roy, believes that "the State, which must repress the sale of alcohol, will have an interest in stimulating it".

Governments were quick to cash in the revenue from the sale of alcohol. At first balance, the Liquor Commission provided 18.5% of government revenue. In 1947, the budget tabled further illustrates its importance. Gasoline tax accounts for 11% of government revenue, like corporation tax, compared to 15% for the Liquor Commission.

First president of the organization bearing the name of Société des alcools, in 1971, Jacques Desmeules looks with a smile on all the promotional material sent by the SAQ to mark its centenary these days. "It's all pretty jovial. The SAQ is an organization that has experienced many major problems,” he points out. Because for decades, the Liquor Commission, which was to become the Régie and then the Société des alcools, was a veritable nest of “patronage”.

After beating the Taschereau Liberals, Maurice Duplessis cleared the way by slashing the salary of the management team. The Commission is entrusted to one of the officials of the electoral fund of the Union Nationale, the notary Savoie. When the Liberals regained power, with Adélard Godbout in 1940, we saw the arrival of the main organizer of the Liberal Party, Mr. Tellier. Duplessis returns, exit Tellier, welcome to Judge Archambault, a bluish complexion. It was he, at the request of Duplessis, who in 1946 revoked the license of Frank Roncarelli, owner of a restaurant on Crescent Street in Montreal. He had posted bail for dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses arrested by the police. The case will mark history. In 1959, the Supreme Court declared that Duplessis had abused his power and ordered that Roncarelli be compensated.

To control abuses, a "liquor police" was created, the target of allegations of corruption or political patronage that irreparably tarnished its image. After Duplessis, these police officers will be integrated as "alcohol squad" at the Sûreté du Québec.

Political patronage was not limited to leaders. For years, the clerks of the Commission, then of the Régie, met every four years in the electoral organization of the Union Nationale.

Often idle, in the branches, they walked slowly towards the backstore with the order of the customer waiting at the counter. This lack of enthusiasm has earned them a scathing epithet: “the draggers”.

They will be the first union members in the Quebec public service. It was to these activists, in their first strike in 1963, that Jean Lesage would launch: “The Queen does not negotiate with her subjects! »

The network grew rapidly: 415 employees at the very beginning, double six months later. The head office is therefore located at Pied du Courant, the former prison where the patriots of 1839 were executed, at the foot of the Jacques-Cartier bridge.

In the early 1930s, until the end of Prohibition in the United States, all was well for the Commission. But in 1933, sales fell sharply. During the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, Quebec issued ration coupons which made it possible to obtain at most 40 ounces every two weeks per customer. On Armistice Day, 1945, the branches of the Commission were closed to avoid mayhem.

The Commission, then the Régie and the Société are responsible for ensuring that the products offered for sale are of good quality. Very quickly we will hire chemists to check that the alcohol sold is not adulterated. The tradition will last a long time; in the 1970s, Jocelyn Tremblay was hired as a scientist to verify that alcohol or sugar had not been added to cider. He will become CEO of the SAQ.

In 1961, the government transformed the Commission des liqueurs into the Régie des alcools. The latter has two distinct missions; marketing and administration of liquor licenses. The branches also change. Instead of queuing in front of a counter, customers pick up the bottles from the shelves.

In 1968, a commission chaired by Judge Lucien Thinel proposed the creation of a liquor company completely separate from the Commission for the Control of Alcohol Permits, which would report to the Justice Department. His report is damning: the management is inefficient, the purchasing policy inconsistent and open to tricks. Sales are starving. There is barely one branch for 25,000 people in Quebec, in Ontario it is one for 16,000, and one for 10,000 in the United States in states where the government has a monopoly on the sale of alcohol.

The SAQ according to five CEOs

Jacques Desmeules, the incorruptible (1971-1978)

External auditor of the Régie, he was appointed by Robert Bourassa and worked to the formation of an independent board of directors. “As for patronage, I had quite a legacy. It needed an in-depth reform, a major change in mentality that had been supported by the government, ”he said in an interview. “We needed a purchasing policy, another for the choice of branches, yet another for personnel management. I had to dive into all that, ”recalls the 87-year-old administrator. The logo, a stylized, burgundy wine glass, will appear during his reign.

Jocelyn Tremblay, quality controller (1985-1997)

Jocelyn Tremblay was cider "controller" when he arrived at the SAQ in 1971. Under his reign, the quality of products will be the central concern. Since then, SAQ approval has served as a guarantee of quality for agencies in other provinces. Prior to his arrival, the Parti Québécois had initiated the privatization of branches. “People were arriving with bags of cash at Pied-du-Courant in the hope of buying a branch! “recalls Mr. Tremblay. “I had the order to undo everything that had been done,” he adds. “Patronage”? “I met Robert Bourassa only once, it lasted 15 minutes. He told me: “If you see a case, call me directly!” »

Gaétan Frigon, the grocer (1998-2002)

Under Minister Bernard Landry, Gaétan Frigon arrived with a long service record at Métro-Richelieu. It featured the Sélection, Classique and Express brands and added Signature, for luxury products, and Dépôt, for wholesale purchases. Upon his arrival, Quebecers consumed an average of nine liters of wine per year. We will be at 13 liters five years later. “I did nothing surprising at the SAQ; I democratized, simply traded, as is done everywhere else. Before, the tradition was that a dollar spent on promotion was a dollar less in profits. Imagine, the branches didn't take credit cards because there was a 1% charge! “, protested Mr. Frigon in an interview this week.

Louis Roquet, the strategist (2003-2004)

Gaétan Frigon had greatly increased sales, but less so profits. Louis Roquet, a former Steinberg, succeeds him with this obsession with the “bottom line”. It generalized computerization and increased storage capacity to serve networks of grocery stores and restaurants. When it arrived, the Charest government was under a lot of pressure for privatization. Mr. Roquet will explain to Monique Jérôme-Forget: “We increase the price of a bottle by 2 cents and the government collects 50 million, and people blame the SAQ. If it is privatized, they will criticize the tax increases. » End of debate.

Alain Brunet, the guy in the box (2014-2018)

He is the only boss of the SAQ who was first a member of the employees' union. Hired part-time in 1981, he studied at the University of Montreal and became an intern in the management of a branch, then rose through the ranks to the top. It preserves the memory of the passion of the employees, “very attached to the SAQ, as well as to their union. It gives people who are proud, dedicated to the company or very committed”. He experienced difficult strikes, that of the warehouse workers in 1991, that of the branches in 2004 while he was at the bargaining table.