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The boxes were worth about $200 each, with products supplied by eight local companies. Boulanger said the products inside were “high quality, very useful. They’re not simply like gifts. There are things that will be used through the years,” including bibs, toothbrushes, clothes and blankets.
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Since 2024, Boulanger said about 20,000 families have received the box. The budget for the three-year contract was about $6.5 million before taxes, Boulanger said, with the goal to give away 30,000 boxes over three years.
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Boulanger believed the contract meant stability and made financial investments in the company to keep up with the demand of the project he can’t get out of, like renting a warehouse, stocking up on expensive inventory that might not be used or sold, and receiving a bank loan he’s worried he won’t be able to pay back.
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“All the seven other suppliers are in the same (position) as we are,” he said.
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Lamarche said Béké-bobo would lose more than $100,000 if the contract were abruptly cancelled. Lamarche said for the contract, she has already produced tens of thousands of waterproof bathtub puppets and “therapeutic bears,” which are used as heating and cooling packs for infants recovering from wounds.
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“I have about 30,000” of the puppets created exclusively for the welcome box, Lamarche said, and he is looking for a new contract or outlet to sell them. “I have more than $68,000 invested in this product alone. So that’s what hurts. I also hired people to make this product.”
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She said she will inevitably have to cut staff.
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One of Boulanger’s investments for Veille sur toi was material to create the blankets that were included in the box.
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“Now, I have enough fabric to give a new roof to the Olympic Stadium,” Boulanger said. “I have three years worth of polyester now. I think given the contract, we will be repaid for that, for the raw material that we invested in. But still … we don’t know what to do with that.”
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While the city’s decision hurts his company and was a helpful initiative for parents, Boulanger said he understands the city administration has many serious issues to tackle.
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“We all agree that people sleeping in a tent at -20 C is a priority, and it should be addressed,” he said, but he believes the problem lies in the administration’s “disregard for the companies and the people and every human around it that counted on it.”
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The city council will formally vote on the future of the baby boxes on Jan. 26, but Boulanger said “the decision has been made.”
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Outcry from parents
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On social media, parents shared their disappointment over the welcome boxes being discontinued.
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“So sad to see such a wonderful project that has touched so many families in Montreal come to an end. We use everything we received with my daughter in 2024. Very disappointed, Soraya Martinez Ferrada,” a user wrote on a Facebook post by Béké-bobo.
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“I’m stunned. We use absolutely everything we received in our box when my daughter was born this summer. What a bad decision for families, too,” another user wrote on Veille sur toi’s Facebook page.
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“I find it regrettable to cut this budget, which was so useful to small businesses and new parents, especially those in need. It was an inclusive gift,” another wrote.
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The Gazette reached out to the City of Montreal for comment, but did not get a reply in time for publication.
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Leora Schertzer
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