MONTREAL -- Montrealers excitement at the prospect of sitting on a terrasse and having a drink was palpable throughout the city, but it may have caused some to break health rules still in place... even the city's mayor.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante is apologizing after she and two colleagues took advantage of the curfew being lifted by hitting up Le Pontiac restaurant in the city's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
Frederick Carle posted a picture of the mayor with four other people seemingly in violation with public health guidelines which limit the number of adults from different residences to two.
"Public health rules do not apply to the mayor," wrote Carle on Twitter. "Obviously not the same address."
Plante posted an apology on Twitter Saturday morning saying it was "her mistake."
"I was eating with a friend and the chef and two members of my team came to sit with us for a few minutes," wrote Plante on Twitter. "We should have put our masks back on. It shows we must be vigilant and that we are not immune from an error despite our good intentions."
Plante posted on her Instagram account that she was out with her deputy Isabelle Proulx-Hetu.
In the picture, Pontiac owner Danny St. Pierre is seated with the mayor, as is her political attache Maude Boutet and her spouse.
A spokesperson for the mayor's office told Radio-Canada that they were respecting the two bubble rules as one bubble was from the mayor's office and the other was a couple who live together.
Red and orange zone restrictions permit a maximum of two adults from different residences per table on terrasses, who can be accompanied by children.
There is nothing in the rules about "work bubbles" though the two women with Plante would fit that category.
There were multiple posts on various social media platforms showing Quebecers out and appearing to break health rules after the curfew was lifted May 28, and many were eager to take advantage.
Police in Montreal and Quebec City reported that officers were out all night breaking up gatherings in parks and other outdoor spaces.
Montreal will move from red to orange zone on June 7.