Oppositions unite to demand an end to public funding for Éduc’alcool

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “What is the mission of Éduc'alcool ?? Promote the interests of the organizations that fund it or promote healthy lifestyles ?,” said Liberal MP Monsef Derraji.

Sébastien Tanguay in Quebec City

Published at 12:09 p.m. Updated at 1:18 p.m.

• Québec

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The government must immediately stop public funding for Éduc’alcool, the reference in terms of informed consumption in Quebec, which is now “discredited” in the eyes of the opposition in Quebec, in light of the investigation published Thursday in Le Devoir. The Liberal Party accuses the organization of “spreading pseudoscience” and of cronyism with the alcohol sales industry.

The daily newspaper on rue Berri revealed the questionable links between the alcohol industry and the organization responsible for raising public awareness about responsible drinking, founded in 1989. The investigation revealed the presence of several major industry players on the board of directors of Éduc’alcool and noted that the organization’s main source of funding depends on a royalty on the sale of bottles.

In addition, several outdated pieces of information published on its brochures and website minimize the risks and exaggerate the benefits of alcohol, to the point where Éduc’alcool was ranked among “one of the worst in the world for misinformation” in a British study published in 2017.

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Request for accountability

“Unfortunately, the worm is in the apple,” worries the Liberal MNA for Nelligan and official opposition critic for transport, Monsef Derraji. What is the mission of Éduc’alcool ? Promote the interests of the organizations that fund it or promote healthy lifestyle habits ? »

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According to him, the revelations of the Devoirraise the hypothesis that Éduc’alcool is “in the pay” of the industry on which the organization must provide popular education. He asks the government to end its public funding and summons the heads of Éduc’alcool, the SAQ and the Régie des alcools to come and explain themselves to a parliamentary committee. The Ministers of Transport and Finance, Geneviève Guilbault and Eric Girard, must also participate in this “accountability,” demands the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).

“Do they agree that their government is using public money to fund an organization that does pseudoscience? ? wonders the Liberal elected official. The funding must be stopped immediately and until the light is shed. »

« Apparent conflicts of interest »

The Parti Québécois, and its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also believes that “public funds should not go there” as long as “the apparent conflicts of interest between preventing abuse and promoting the public interest, on the one hand, and the industry's interest in selling more alcohol, on the other, are not resolved.”

“We cannot claim to serve health and the public interest, but be financed by the industry that seeks to sell more of this product,” argues the elected representative for Camille-Laurin.

“We should clearly review government participation in the financing of Éduc'alcool because, for the moment, it is doing the public a disservice,” emphasizes the Solidarity MNA for Taschereau, Étienne Grandmont.

Questions about Éduc’alcool’s governance come at a time when the organization is one of the only ones advocating for maintaining the status quo regarding the blood alcohol limit tolerated behind the wheel. The SAAQ, in an opinion released this week, claims that a limit set at 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood would save up to nine lives per year and “approximately ten serious injuries.”

The government is standing behind the current limit despite the SAAQ’s opinion. Monsef Derraji accuses the Minister of Transport of “abandoning the SAAQ” to “use Éduc’alcool, which is now discredited.”

In the corridors of the National Assembly, no government minister wanted to comment. Questioned by journalists, Lionel Carmant, Christian Dubé and Eric Girard all passed the buck to their colleague at Transport. She walked out of the Red Room without answering questions.

In the morning, on 98.5 FM, the minister had nevertheless stated that “we can agree or disagree” with the credibility deficit raised by Le Devoir. “Éduc'alcool is an extremely credible player in the area of ​​impaired driving and road safety,” stressed the head of Transport, welcoming the change in morals enabled by the organization since its founding.

“We have really come a long way from the time when people left with their beer between their legs, not strapped into their car,” praised the minister. That is the result of decades of awareness-raising, then evolution, then reflection. »

To All morning, she also defended maintaining the status quo. “We do a lot in road safety,” the minister said. Beyond the 0.05, there are so many things that are done that overall, […] it’s a combination of things that will make us get there.”

A few hours later, the government voted overwhelmingly against a motion tabled by the Liberal opposition that called for a downward revision of the blood alcohol limit allowed while driving and that decreed that “the government’s sole objective should be to save lives.”