Over the past week, restaurants located in Montreal have made headlines. First by asking for a plan for their reopening shortly in order to recruit their staff, then because Mayor Valérie Plante interfered in the debate and because she then granted them financial assistance and finally because some of the 'between them still opened their doors for a special occasion. Here is a summary of the last week on the island of Montreal.
First, remember that the major restaurant chains in Quebec, which are present all over Montreal, have united their voices to ask the government for an action plan for their reopening. A working group has finally been created and will have to present a sanitary plan for the opening of the terraces to begin with.
Subsequently, the mayoress of Montreal Valérie Plante shared her vision of opening the terraces for June 1, in compliance with sanitary rules. She confirms having had discussions with the provincial government and Public Health in this regard. She believes restaurant owners need the cash and that, if conditions permit, their patio should open when the weather warms up. She also hopes that the government will give "predictability" to restaurateurs in order to plan a reopening.
However, the government was quick, after Ms. Plante's statement, to close the door to this possibility. It was the Minister of Health Christian Dubé who stressed the caution before launching dates for certain measures.
Shortly after, Ms. Plante made another announcement, this time monetary. It gave restaurant owners a breath of fresh air by granting them additional assistance of $ 4 million that will allow them to reimburse 90% of the expenses for a construction or renovation project. This assistance is in addition to the $ 150 million already injected into the PME MTL project.
Finally, the restaurateurs themselves took care to make the talk on Saturday, when they carried out a false reopening. The goal? Make the government aware that they will eventually die if they continue to be closed. According to some owners who made this false reopening, without serving any meal or drink, people could come to their restaurant like an old work of art ... It is possible that some have forgotten what it was to enter a restaurant!