Promoters of Quebec’s most popular festivals want the government to let them know what COVID-19 health orders they’ll face this summer, fearing the restrictions are affecting the city’s international reputation.
Martin Roy, executive director of a group that represents many of Quebec’s largest festivals, said the provincial government’s “striptease approach” of removing one restriction at a time isn’t working for organizers.
Roy, with the Regroupement des evenements majeurs internationaux, said the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix is set to take place in June, followed by events such as the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal and the Festival d’ete de Quebec.
“These major events have to know in advance if they will be able to open with and under which conditions,” Roy said in an interview Monday.
He said some international artists may not want to book performances in Quebec if they don’t know whether they’ll actually be able to perform and that if Montreal’s festivals aren’t able to host large events, the city’s reputation will take a hit.
“On a long-term basis, we’ll lose our credibility in the industry and it will take many years to re-establish our credibility,” he said.
Entertainment and sports venues in Quebec were allowed to open on Monday at 50 percent capacity, up to a maximum of 500 people. However, the province has not announced a plan to further ease restrictions for those venues.
Roy said the lack of a clear reopening calendar is frustrating, especially given that Ontario’s government has announced a plan to fully reopen the economy and events across the United States and Europe are able to take place with few or no restrictions.
“On March 1 in Ontario, it will be full capacity inside and outside,” Roy said. “I’m not saying that we need to do it in March, but we need to have a date.”
Montreal’s tourism promotion agency is calling for a reopening plan for convention centres.
Manuela Goya, vice-president at Tourisme Montreal, said major conferences scheduled to take place this summer are up in the air, and she said she worries if those events are cancelled, they might not return to Montreal for years.
“All we want is a reopening calendar, not a quick opening immediately,” she said in an interview Monday. “Just a bit of oxygen so we can say to promoters ‘we are in business.”’
In 2019, she said conferences and conventions brought an estimated $360 million in economic benefits to the city of Montreal.
On Sunday, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said the provincial government and public health officials need to provide a clear reopening plan for the cultural and events industries.
“This vagueness is intolerable,” she wrote on Facebook. “For two years, the restaurant, hotel, business tourism and entertainment industry have been hit hard by the pandemic. Their biggest challenge is the uncertainty that they face.”
Earlier on Monday, the Health Department said COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by 14 compared with the prior day, to 2,425, after 141 people entered hospital and 127 were discharged. It said 178 people were in intensive care, an increase of one from the day before.
Officials also reported 20 more deaths attributed to COVID-19.