The cultural community pleaded in unison for more predictability with a view to the possible reopening of theaters and cinemas during meetings Thursday and Friday with the office of the Minister of Culture. The various organizations present, however, did not obtain answers to their questions on the merits of the closures to stem the pandemic.
The ministry has also not advanced on a possible date of resumption, even if Ontario has already indicated for its part that the theaters and cinemas will be able to reopen at half their capacity from January 31. .
Coming out of Thursday’s meeting, those taking part told the Duty that most of the groups had spoken out in favor of a rapid deconfinement, contrasting with the very cautious discourse maintained by some at the start of the fifth wave.
“A few weeks ago, I couldn’t get over hearing people in the theater community say that they would rather close than stay open at reduced capacity. I was happy to hear all the venue owners say on Thursday that they were tired of playing yo-yos and demanding a quick reopening. I no longer felt alone,” reports Vincent Guzzo, owner of the cinema chain of the same name.
On a crusade for several months against health measures, the businessman was delighted to have been able to tell his way of thinking to Minister Nathalie Roy, who joined at the end of the meetings on Thursday and Friday. For Vincent Guzzo, it is obvious that the closure of performance halls and cinemas on December 20 was not justified by the health situation, especially since no outbreak had taken place before this date.
“Last August, we were imposed the vaccine passport even if we did not want it, telling us that it was what was going to allow us not to close. But we were still forced to close ”, does not budge the owner of Cinemas Guzzo, who is now thinking of turning to the courts.
Public health absent
In Belgium, justice suspended the government’s decision to close performance halls and cinemas at the end of December, ruling that there was no evidence that these places are conducive to contagion.
At home, actors in the cultural community would also like to understand what could have led the Legault government to decree the closure of cultural places until further notice. Unfortunately for them, no public health representative participated in the meetings on Thursday and Friday, which was deplored by some.
Despite everything, the exchanges between the actors of the milieu and the cabinet of the minister were all in all courteous, indicates the president of the Guild of musicians, Luc Fortin, who is however beginning to get impatient after a month of stoppage.
“We wonder why we took the risk of reopening the schools, when we did not take the risk of reopening the rooms, which are however much, much less conducive to contagion. We have the impression that this is not a matter of public health, that we just closed the rooms to send a message to the population, ”laments Luc Fortin.
Hope for the show business came instead from the new national director of public health, Luc Boileau, who hinted on Friday that certain measures could be lifted by the end of the month if the situation in hospitals were to improve. improving.
In France, the government has announced that it wants to allow standing concerts and the consumption of food in cinemas again. Performance halls and cinemas have never had to close in France because of the record increase in cases caused by the Omicron variant.
No need to go far in the world to find other governments that have opted for a much less restrictive approach than Quebec. In the western provinces, the gauges have certainly been reduced, but theaters and cinemas have been able to continue their activities in recent weeks.
“We are also ready to make certain concessions on capacity, although the more people there are, the better. Our members are ready to reopen. The postponements of shows are more and more difficult, ”warns the director general of ADISQ, Ève Paré.
The office of Minister Roy did not want to react on Friday to the requests that were made during the two meetings with the actors of the cultural community. He says he wants to give himself some time to analyze everything and discuss it with public health.