Montreal Terrassegate: City inspectors chose to use a bazooka to kill a fly
Terrassegate was a series of very bad decisions that reflected poorly on our city and the current administration. City fire inspectors chose to use a bazooka to kill a fly, penalizing hard-working business owners relying on the Grand Prix weekend to recoup some of the losses they’ve suffered over the past few years. A postmortem hopefully prevents this from ever happening again.
The root problem here lies with the way city officials and administrations — not just Mayor Valérie Plante’s — interact with small businesses. (We all remember the noise complaints that plagued Plateau music venues throughout Denis Coderre’s administration — forcing some of them to close permanently.) Enforcing regulations and administering fines is one thing, but humiliating business owners during peak service hours is egotistical and not a good look for Montreal.
Regardless, those claiming Mayor Plante is secretly sabotaging F1 — Canada’s largest sports tourism event that puts our city on the map — because she’s “anti-car” may have inhaled too many exhaust fumes. Go get some fresh air. You sound silly.