On Friday Quebec’s Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, said the government would send a reopening guide to restaurateurs in the province amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but later walked back her decision.
Without providing any details on what the guide would entail, Proulx indicated that the objective was to help restaurant owners — who are among the entrepreneurs most affected by the COVID-19 crisis — prepare for the gradual reopening of their businesses.
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Proulx said that an inter-ministerial committee, made up of the ministers of agriculture, the economy, labor and finance, was currently examining reopening and recovery scenarios for the restaurant industry.
Liberal MP Frantz Benjamin pointed out that more than 50 per cent of jobs in the tourism industry are in the restaurant industry.
Unlike many other economic sectors, which have had some kind of guidance from the government as to when and how to prepare for eventual deconfinement plans, restaurant owners are still waiting.
–With files from Global News’ Alessia Maratta