Christmas begins new lockdown
I was listening to radio Tuesday afternoon as Premier Legault announced a new Covid lockdown to begin after Christmas day and last till January 11.
Legault fudged on answering the question why not, since we have a serious problem, begin now? He clearly didn’t want to admit straight out that he wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel deprived of the Christian holiday. Another journalist asked what was planned if we reach January 11 and Covid numbers are still climbing. We didn’t hear a clear answer to that either.
Anyway, non-essential businesses will have to shut down for 2½ weeks. This tweet from Andy Riga lists which businesses are considered essential.
Radio had people talking about the need to get people outside moving around. The Botanical Garden grounds are set to reopen, although the photo accompanying this item is misleading, as there wasn’t any lantern festival this year (and it would’ve been taken down by December anyway).
Ephraim 20:58 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
The part that I like… “He said that in response to concerns that big-box retail giants like Costco would unfairly benefit — they sell groceries and medication, as well as many non-essential retail items — Legault said these stores wouldn’t be allowed to sell non-essential items during the 18 days.”
So, Costco, Walmart and even Provigo… essential items only! Which is fair.
I think these stores should also need to have a sign on the entry door telling you how many people are allowed in at the same time, and they should be more restrictive on larger stores. The small stores are handling this well already. The big box stores, especially Costco are letting way too many people in.
Benoit 21:25 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
“He wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel fully deprived of the Christian holidays. ”
I think it’s also to help shop owners protect their profits and jobs at a period of the year which represents a big share of their revenues.
dmdiem 21:36 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
This whole thing is a kobayashi maru. A no-win scenario. We can’t save every life or every business. All we can really do is try to keep the overall damage as low as possible.
Kate 21:47 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
Benoit, I put it in rather negative terms, but by “maximize shopping” I did mean that he wants also to minimize the impact a lockdown will have on retail. As it is, they’re going to lose the Boxing Day blowouts.
steph 22:21 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
Haven’t all shops been applying the 1 person per 4m2? Costco has been refusing guests – only card-holders are allowed in the stores.
Ephraim 22:37 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
@steph maybe, but it doesn’t feel that way. We went to the West Island store and it felt like it was PACKED. I won’t go back. I now go at really off hours, early, to avoid the problem.
steph 23:04 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
With the government programs in place subsidizing salaries, I often feel like there’s more employees in the stores than customers.
dwgs 10:42 on 2020-12-16 Permalink
Don’t forget the sales tax that the government is collecting on all those Christmas purchases…
Jim 11:06 on 2020-12-16 Permalink
“He clearly didn’t want to admit straight out that he wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel deprived of the Christian holiday.”
They may also have wanted to avoid a mad rush on the stores, everyone trying to get a few last minute gifts before stores were shut.
Kate 12:26 on 2020-12-16 Permalink
It amazes me that the Christmas season lumbers on, with people buying gifts, and the distribution of toys seen as a wonderful gesture. Maybe it’s because I’m not a parent, but the shrill insistence on the necessity for toys has always perplexed me, and the expectation of gift-giving this year seems almost perverse.
(Yes, I had some toys as a kid. Some of them were hand-me-downs from cousins. Often the ones I liked were random stuff that came to hand, rather than flashy stuff marketed by Mattel. But mostly, I was reading books.)
JaneyB 10:56 on 2020-12-17 Permalink
In my family, we give only two gifts: socks and chocolate. It simplifies everything and who doesn’t need those?