A Montreal family was shocked after being told they had to pay $7 for a movie ticket for their two-month-old baby at Cinema Guzzo in Saint-Laurent.
Stuart Becker told Global News that he, his wife and two children went to see Finding Dory over the weekend.
“I wanted to take my almost three-year-old son for his first movie ever,” he explained.
However, because his wife is breastfeeding their daughter, who was born at the beginning of the summer, the couple didn’t want to leave her behind.
“My wife brought her breastfeeding pillow and cover with her, in case she woke up in the middle of the movie Paige would put her on her lap and she wouldn’t bother anybody.”
When the couple arrived at the ticket counter, they were surprised to find out they would have to pay for the infant.
“We were ready to walk right out, but I looked at my son and I was like, he’s so excited, how can we do this to him?” he told Global News.
“I paid the $7 extra for my two-month-old and was angry about it, but what was I going to do?”
Cinema Guzzo changed its policy to charge everyone who goes to the movies back in May.
Previously, children under the age of two got in free — and many years ago, children three and under had free admission.
Vince Guzzo, executive vice-president and COO, explained the reason he changed the policy was because everyone should have to pay for a service they are given.
“A three-month-old child, or a six-month-old child, while we want to give humanity the impression that they’re just a lump of humanity that’s not doing anything, they breathe, they feed, they assimilate,” he said.
“You got to do something for your child. It’s a service. You pay for it, whether the child is three, seven or eight months old.”
Becker said the reason they brought the whole family was because the matinee screening advertised as a family movie.
“She’s part of our family,” he said.
“My two-month-old sat in her bucket and didn’t make a peep while we were there.”
Guzzo said the cinemas were receiving many complaints from people about crying children, and that’s why they took action.
“We’re going to make it economically not conducive for you to bring your child. The amount of complaints has gone down because less children show up,” he said.
“One of the messages we’re trying to tell people is we’re not a babysitting service. You shouldn’t use us as a babysitting service. You should have more respect and courtesy for the people around you.”
“It’s not a money grab. It’s a self-respect grab. It can’t all be free and it can’t be free when it’s damaging my regular customers.”
Becker said he doesn’t buy Guzzo’s argument.
“It’s not fair. It’s not fair at all. It’s a form of discrimination,” he said.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
Follow @rachel_lau
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