Quebec rejects proposal to offer restaurant vouchers ahead of reopening
With dining rooms open at half-capacity on Monday, Quebec Solidaire (QS) wants to help restaurants recover using vouchers, but the provincial government is giving a thumbs down.
Ruba Ghazal, head of economic affairs for QS, proposed giving $100 restaurant vouchers to Quebec households.
“Restaurant owners have had a tough time for the past two years and they will need customers to be there next Monday to get their businesses back on track,” said Ghazal in a press release published Friday. “Unfortunately, with the rising cost of living, fewer and fewer families can afford to eat out, but now is the time when restaurant owners need a boost.”
Handing out meal tickets in the hopes of boosting the restaurant industry is not unheard of; the practice has popped up in places such as the U.K. and Australia.
But the economy minister for Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) said the idea is a no-go.
“We have other efficient measures,” MNA Pierre Fitzgibbon stated in an email to CTV News, adding that “We are very sensitive to the issues facing restaurant owners.”
Dining rooms were closed at the end of December due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Although restaurants can open at half-capacity as of Jan. 31, bars are yet to receive the green light.
The voucher would have applied to households that receive the solidarity tax credit, which is available to low and middle-income families.
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