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The Société des alcools du Québec is starting to look for people to work at Quebec’s cannabis retail stores.

They want people who like working with the public, who don’t have a criminal record and who can pass a test on the health effects of cannabis after training.

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The SAQ also said on Thursday that it has signed the first four leases for Société québécoise du cannabis stores.

The passage of the federal bill to legalize cannabis on June 19 — and the announcement that legalization will happen on Oct. 17 — makes it easier to plan and start hiring workers, said Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesperson for the SAQ.

The starting wage for SQDC workers will be $14 an hour.

That’s already drawing criticism from the union that represents SAQ workers.

“We’re quite pissed off,” said Jean Lortie, the secretary general of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux. “It’s very clearly a political statement that the government is making.”