Earlier quoted context omitted.
This aspect could be the real hurdle: "Pay a fee of up to 10% of the sweepstakes' value, depending on who is allowed to enter." So they would need to pay Quebec $3K just to have the competition available there, even if it is a global competition. It sounds to me that Quebec have got to have some reason for these Quebec special laws. It has nothing to do with France, there has to be another reason. Does anyone have an…
Almost everything in Canada, every ad, promotion, service has some kind of special section for Quebec. They insist on having completely different laws for every little thing. From a companies POV, its probably as legally onerous as operating in a different country altogether - not worth it.
It's much worse than that. Google didn't research the sweepstakes laws in, say, Paraguay or the Gambia before making this announcement. They figure that, in the worst case, their legal department will tell them not to award the prize if the winner comes from a country where they can't legally award it, and they'll scramble the necessary PR people if that comes to pass.
For Quebec, on the other hand, they'll be forbidden from carrying on business in all of Canada if they advertise this competition as one that can be won in Quebec. A terrible chilling effect - and I say this as someone who universally favours the freedom and self-determination of small nations such as Quebec.