Sherbrooke restaurant owners discuss solutions to red zone problem
Anik Beaudoin, the owner of Auguste, a restaurant in downtown Sherbrooke, and co-president Association des gens d’affaires du center-ville de Sherbrooke, was stunned to learn the Eastern Townships would return to a red zone.
“I was a bit discouraged because, for us, we have a new chef, we’re restructuring everything, we were struggling to find employees and we had two in training; and now we have to restart again,” said Beaudoin.
The restaurant owner organized a coffee date on Monday morning with other owners in the area to talk about the pandemic and the way the government has handled the industry. She said it was a chance for everyone present to air their grievances.
“It was really a call to other owners to discuss our issues. When we’re with our employees we need to be strong, think of solutions, we can’t say that we’re discouraged, or upset,” said Beaudoin, adding that another coffee date is in the works for later this week.
In a phone interview with The Record, she questioned why the government continues to consider restaurants as high-risk zones for the spread of COVID-19. Public health claims that workers are too close to each other, she added, and yet they allow take-out services.
Not everyone has a big kitchen to physically distance, Beaudoin explained, so even though the government has closed restaurants, workers are still around each other to fulfill take-out duties. She believes health officials should take a closer look at outdoor public gatherings.
“There’s also the history, it’s over one year now and it’s confirmed that we aren’t an outbreak risk. I have doctors in my clientele, and they all say that the worst areas are break rooms, in factories, Costco, and businesses anywhere,” said Beaudoin.
The problem isn’t with restaurants, she continued, she doesn’t think it makes any sense to open and close them any time a region turns red. Beaudoin noted that people see each other at their homes, in parks, touching everything. Restaurant’s control everything, she said.
Beaudoin feels like the government is telling Quebecers that the industry is not important. She said that everyone was unanimous during the coffee date and discussion. People are tired of starting from scratch, training new employees, every other month.
On Tuesday, Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier proposed the creation of an accreditation system, where restaurant owners can prove they are complying with sanitary measures, allowing them to stay open even in red zones.
However, it’s just an idea, as it would need to go through the Minister Responsible for the Estrie Region, François Bonnardel, and then Health Minister Christian Dubé would need to approve it. Beaudoin likes the idea, but it would require more effort from Quebec.
“There wasn’t a lot of supervision during Covid, so the government shuts us down, but they could leave us open and increase supervision if they feel we’re a cause for outbreaks; it isn’t something they think about,” she said.