Many sports center owners planned to disobey the government this Sunday by opening their gyms despite health rules. They finally changed their minds in the face of warnings from the authorities, not without fearing for the health of their customers.
Threatened by Quebec to be excluded from subsidies in the event of contravention of the Public Health Act, most managers of training centers have given up in their dissent. “A lot of owners can’t afford it,” sighs the Duty Emmanuelle Blais, co-owner of Le Vestiaire gym, in Parc-Extension, in Montreal.
The high-level athlete had led the charge of this challenge out of spite. The health of its members depends on it, she says in her large gym emptied of her machines. Dozens of people still wanted to show their support for the company outside the training center.
“We understand that it is difficult in the hospital network. But we realized that in our user members, especially in the last few weeks, things are really not going well. »
One of his clients who was treating his herniated disc through training recently saw his pain return. Others had worked hard to achieve a healthy weight, but have since fallen back into their bad habits. “People have had to start taking their medications again to treat anxiety and depression. That’s what touched us the most,” says Ms. Blais.
According to her, the closure of the gyms decreed again on December 20 does indeed jeopardize the long-term health of its customers, always a little less numerous after each wave of closures. “We just want to keep our members healthy. »
When passing the Duty at Le Vestiaire gym, a pair of police officers come to check that no training is taking place, almost apologizing for the inconvenience.
This refrain, Istvan Cyr-Goralsky, the owner of 909 Gym, knows it well. His gym in the West Island of Montreal is closed, but he still welcomes clients to his physiotherapy clinic located at the same address.
“The police have already come several times for complaints. Recently, I had to go to their police station. They apologized for wasting my time. But they, too, are wasting their time. I’m more stressed, more anxious right now, myself. Every week, will the police come again? »
He too touts sports centers as a “solution” to health problems. “I even have a client who is a nurse. She told me that while working, there was a patient who got angry with her and that she needed to calm down. At least she could come to practice, clear her head and take care of herself. But here, we prevent it. »
Preventive health
“The movement has really turned much more to messages rather than being illegal to get attention,” acknowledges Gabriel Hardy, provincial leader of the Canadian Council of the Fitness Industry (CCICP). The financial threat is a major argument for gym owners who have accumulated between $75,000 and $80,000 in debt on average since March 2020, according to an internal survey by this association.
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the deconfinement of restaurants and performance halls does not coincide with the resumption of sport for adults. But “we are part of the preventive health system”, pleads Gabriel Hardy. “Sending fewer patients to hospitals must be part of the game plan. »
“Starting tomorrow Monday, we will be the only place in America where it is not allowed to practice physical activities indoors for 18 years and older, he notes. There are no major outbreaks seen elsewhere. We do not understand the relentlessness, the prospect that our places are so dangerous. »
Especially since the government is turning a deaf ear to these specialists in physical training, according to Mr. Hardy. His last meeting with a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec dates back to November 2020.
To these grievances, Prime Minister François Legault reiterated his request on Sunday to “be patient” in order to support the health network. “Respect the will of the majority of Quebecers, because the majority of Quebecers agree with the instructions,” he pleaded at a press conference.