Mayor Valérie Plante urges Montrealers to “encourage their local businesses” as the holidays approach, while the return of telework – announced Tuesday by the Legault government – is causing its share of concerns in the city’s business community .
“Amazon doesn’t need our wallet, but our local merchants do. It is also an effort of resilience and solidarity to do your holiday shopping in local businesses. It makes them feel good, they are happy to see us. And that makes a big difference in their turnover and their morale as well, ”said Mr.me Plante on Wednesday, during the last meeting of the executive committee in 2021.
At the same time, she indicated that the city center “remains a safe and secure place”, also suggesting that economic health “is another reason to get vaccinated”.
Earlier, Wednesday, Press reported that representatives of the business community are worried about the effects that the return of teleworking will have in large cities like Montreal, especially if it extends beyond the holiday season. In the public service, this return to teleworking will be made compulsory for everyone.
“We were taken by surprise. We are disappointed and worried about the impact that this will have on small businesses in downtown Montreal, Quebec City and Gatineau, where we had started to regain life, ”explained the vice-president for Quebec to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), François Vincent, followed by several others.
“It’s the right thing to do”
To these concerns, Valérie Plante responds in two stages. “It’s an additional and important effort. We must follow the rules of the government ”, first hammered the mayoress, while showing empathy with the difficulties that these new tightening can generate. “It’s not easy, but we must keep in mind that it is these efforts that will allow us to resume our activities as quickly as possible. We don’t want to redistribute ourselves, but it’s the right thing to do, ”she exclaimed.
In Ville-Marie, on-street parking will remain free evenings and weekends between December 3 and January 2, as announced a few weeks ago by the City, to allow Montrealers to do their shopping. of the holiday season in peace.
“We have to be careful, but at the same time, downtown Montreal and the economy of Montreal are doing well. As a local government, we continue to support it. It’s up to you, every citizen, to do the same, ”Mayor Plante insisted.