Scattered cones, trucks in the road, blocked entrances on all sides… A Lanaudière pool seller is angry because access to his business was blocked at the worst time of the year by work from the Ministry of Transport these last weeks.
“I have lost a good $150,000 in sales of pools and products in recent weeks,” denounces the Log Luc Pelletier, owner of Piscine et spa Jack-Eau, in Sainte-Julienne. He is not angry with the construction workers, but with the Ministry of Transport who orchestrated the work.
“It was so complicated to come to our shop that customers didn’t worry and went to the competitor on the other side of the street (Qc-125 road), a little higher at 300 meters, where there was no work,” he sighs on the phone.
Last February, The newspaper told the story of a baker from Quebec, who claimed to have lost $900,000 in income due to work also orchestrated by the Ministry of Transport which blocked his business.
However, it seems that history is repeating itself 235 kilometers away during the extension of Highway 25 and the improvement of Route 125, in Sainte-Julienne.
This time, it is a small swimming pool SME on the way to the north of Lanaudière which pays the price, supports the Pelletier family, in fury.
- Listen to his testimony at the microphone of Marie Montpetit via :
Programs required
According to François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Situations like this often happen unfortunately. It absorbs financial losses that can be very heavy for SMEs, ”he laments.
“The cities of Montreal and Quebec have adopted approaches and compensation programs to mitigate the impact of their road works on small local businesses. If the capital and the metropolis have been able to adopt such programs, what is the Ministry of Transport waiting for to do the same? he wonders.
- Listen to Francis Bérubé, Director of Provincial Affairs for Quebec at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business at the microphone of Marie Montpetit via :
The MTQ defends itself
Asked by The newspaper, the municipality of Sainte-Julienne said it had “received no complaints from the businesses along Route 125” and quickly passed the buck to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD).
“We always make sure that there is access available by trade,” said in an interview with the Log Samantha Saroufim, communications advisor at the Laurentides-Lanaudière general management at the MTMD.
“We only had one complaint about this work. If the businesses are worried, they can communicate at any time, ”she wanted to send as a message.
– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois