In the wake of new federal recommendations on alcohol consumption, experts believe it is time to question donations and sponsorships from the alcoholic beverage industry in the Quebec health network.
Montréal Passion Vin event for the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Foundation, Grand Bal des Vins-Coeurs for the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, wine tasting evenings for various hospitals: there is no shortage of examples.
“In my opinion, it is not reasonable for a health establishment to be sponsored by the alcohol industry. We can no longer associate alcohol with health,” says Dr.r Réal Morin, medical specialist in the Individual and Community Development Department of the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec.
In mid-January, the Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) issued new recommendations on alcohol consumption and concluded that “there is no threshold for alcohol consumption that be safe”. “Science is changing and recommendations on alcohol consumption must change,” reads the document.1.
With this new scientific knowledge, “associating health with alcohol no longer has any place today”, believes Dr.r Morin. For him, the company might wonder if alcohol-related companies should continue to sponsor festivals, for example. “But allowing donations to health institutions might trivialize the health effects of alcohol,” he says.
Responsible for legal affairs of the Association pour la santé publique du Québec (ASPQ), Marianne Dessureault notes that Quebec laws prohibit all sponsorships associated with cannabis and tobacco (donations without promotion are permitted). Nothing like this exists for alcohol.
In a document published in 2022, the ASPQ noted that alcoholic beverage industry sponsorships were “an increasingly common and used promotional practice”.
It’s a practice that makes the product part of our habits. Let’s trivialize the product.
Marianne Dessureault, head of legal affairs for the Association pour la santé publique du Québec (ASPQ)
For her, the province is ripe for reflection on this subject. “Perhaps we will say that these sponsorships can remain for certain types of events or organizations. But not elsewhere,” she says.
In the coming weeks, the ASPQ is organizing a series of webinars on “policies to reduce the harm caused by alcohol”, one of which will deal precisely with the supervision of alcohol sponsorships.
Lots of donations
The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) and various alcoholic beverage companies make donations or are sponsors of numerous events of foundations of health establishments throughout Quebec.
At the Montreal Heart Institute, the SAQ is one of the two “founding partners” of the major annual charity event, the Grand Bal des Vins-Coeurs. Many other companies linked to the world of alcohol are also on the list of “partners and donors”, including the Molson Foundation, Martini Fiero, Sogrape, Niepoort, Vins du Portugal, Domaine Lafrance, Brasseries Bêta and DFJ Vinhos. , notably.
The SAQ was also a partner of the MUHC Foundation’s Bal en rouge in 2022. The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Foundation (HMR) holds various alcohol-related fundraising events each year, such as Montréal Passion Vin.
The donations contribute “to the expansion project of the HMR’s Integrated Cancer Center”, can be read on the Foundation’s website. And these are just a few examples. Other hospitals in Quebec also receive donations or sponsorships from the alcohol industry.
At the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, they say they are “sensitive to the source of donations”. However, it is considered “too early” to know if the recent CCSA report will have an impact. A “donation acceptance policy” is in place and is reviewed on an annual basis “according to the evolution of the scientific literature”.
“For a while now, we have been thinking regarding our relationship with alcohol. As such, we have renewed the theme of our flagship fundraising event, the Grand Bal des Vins-Coeurs. Formerly focused on exceptional wines, it now honors the “winners” of cardiovascular disease,” says Yannick Elliott, vice-president, philanthropic development at the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, by email. .
At the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Foundation, it is mentioned that responsible alcohol consumption is “a concern” for the organization. “Measures have been put in place to make participants aware of HMR Foundation events during which alcohol is served: increased offer of [boissons] non-alcoholic beverages, promotion of escort services, distribution of alcohol tests, spittoons”, indicates the communications advisor, Vanessa Jourdain.
At the SAQ, which contributes with donations and sponsorships to more than 250 organizations annually, we say we are “sensitive to the evolution of recommendations regarding alcohol consumption”.
“When our contribution is made through products during event sponsorships, clauses related to ethics and responsible consumption are stipulated in the contracts with our partners”, indicates the spokesperson, Geneviève Cormier.
An opportunity to reflect collectively
Associate professor in the marketing department of HEC Montréal, Jean-Jacques Stréliski believes that “only time will tell what trend will result from the new recommendations” in relation to alcohol consumption. But he doubts that we will arrive at the same stage as if a tobacco company financed a pulmonary institute.
He believes that the situation with alcohol is different, in particular because while the conclusions of studies on tobacco showed that the product was beyond any doubt harmful to health, studies on alcohol seem more nuanced.
For Allison Marchildon, full professor in the Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Sherbrooke, the new recommendations on alcohol are “a great opportunity to ask questions as an individual, but also collectively”. This emphasizes that the health financing needs are “enormous”.
Institutions want to find ways to finance themselves, but they have to ask themselves what they want or not. To the consequences. to their independence.
Allison Marchildon, Full Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the Université de Sherbrooke
Professor in the Drug Addiction Study and Research Programs at the University of Sherbrooke, Karine Bertrand believes that while alcohol consumers should not be stigmatized, “we also want responsible behavior from the industry”.
She notes that currently, the marketing of alcohol is “poorly supervised in Quebec”. “I pass the responsibility to the government on how to frame the promotion of this industry,” she said.
At the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), it is pointed out that the supervision of the promotion, and sponsorship of alcohol “is the responsibility of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ)” .
“However, there are major public health concerns in these regards, given the recent accumulated knowledge of alcohol-related risks and the substantial impacts on our society. It is necessary to better support the population in making informed choices in terms of alcohol consumption and the MSSS wishes to participate fully in this exercise,” said spokesperson, Noémie Vanheuverzwijn.