Retrospective 2021 | Three waves and a crooked boat

The image of the container ship stranded askew in the Suez Canal alone summed up 2021 in its entirety. A year that made us realize how fragile the balance on our planet is.

The blunder of the year

A stuck boat … a stuck system

It only took one boat, among thousands of others offshore, for the wheel of consumption to stop turning perfectly. If, at first, it was rather funny to see theEver Given stuck in the bias, we quickly noticed the unfortunate consequences. After 6 days, a monster traffic jam of 400 ships loaded with goods, oil and live cattle had formed.

This is where we realized the importance of this great global logistics ballet so that nothing is missing in our stores. Before the pandemic, this choreography in ports, seas, rails and roads seemed to go without saying. Today, we no longer take anything for granted. It’s not even surprising to hear on the news about a broken supply chain.

They could have done better

Air carriers

From the transport of goods, let’s move on to that of humans. Because the last year has put the patience of travelers to the test.

Ottawa has come to the aid of the airlines financially by forcing them to reimburse their customers. But their websites have suffered from hiccups, and their deadlines have often been exceeded. In addition, consumers were unable to contact customer services to follow up on their file. What frustration!

The Consumer Protection Office (OPC), which administers the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents (FICAV), has also upset many people. In June, the minister responsible, Simon Jolin-Barrette, promised that repayments would begin in September. This raised both hope and expectations.

But in the end, the 33,000 Quebecers who submitted a reimbursement request only received an email – in October or November – asking them to update their file. The FICAV has still not specified when the checks will be issued.

The fiasco

The bankruptcy of Bel-Habitat

The amounts expected by all these travelers obviously have nothing to do with those lost by Bel-Habitat customers. Families have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In their case, it is a real tragedy.

The construction company found itself in the news after a bankruptcy (in June) which still raises a ton of questions. We don’t know where the $ 17 million down payment went and we may never know. The trustee in charge of the case has publicly stated that it looks suspiciously like a Ponzi scheme. But his research continues to determine whether bankruptcy is indeed hiding fraud.

The Laval police are also on the scene, but the lack of progress in their investigation arouses the impatience of the victims.

This nebulous affair was publicized for months because it exposed a multitude of flaws in the mechanisms supposed to protect buyers of new homes, in the midst of the real estate boom. Those which fall under the guarantee plan administered by Garantie de construction residentialielle (GCR) will, it is hoped, be corrected in the coming months. The Régie du bâtiment (RBQ) is looking into this.

We would have done without

Inflation

We also hope that inflation will calm down as soon as possible. Rising prices for housing, food and gasoline make it difficult for a large number of households to manage their budgets. Income is not keeping pace, which is frustrating and even insecure. Quebec will give a financial boost to those hardest hit, but strongly a quick return to normal.

The surprise

The resilience of retailers and restaurateurs

Let’s end with less demoralizing memories. Even though the year has been shaken up by three big waves of COVID-19, all is not gloomy. On the contrary.

I am thinking of the resilience of retailers and restaurateurs, who have shown imagination and flexibility. While we expected the worst at the start of the pandemic and the recourse to bankruptcy laws multiplied, 2021 was not ultimately overshadowed by numerous disappearances of Quebec brands.

Our entrepreneurs have improved their transactional sites, they have adapted their marketing strategies and even their product offering. All this while dealing with a workforce that is scarce.

The good shot

Close on Sunday

Hardware stores closed on Sundays have even managed to make us think collectively about the opening hours of businesses, our social choices, our values. Do we really want to be able to shop on Sundays knowing that this prevents employees from spending time with their families?

Almost everywhere in Quebec, owners close their hardware stores one day a week, and customers are coping well with it. Butcheries, in particular, followed suit. And others dream of it.

Anyone who believed this debate closed since 1992 was forced to admit that it could be reborn at any time.

The pandemic has had the merit of putting quality time at the heart of our concerns. It remains to be seen how this will influence our lives in 2022. Personally, I can’t wait to see what changes will take hold, and what our new reality will be made of, and how we will navigate it. You ?