What's next? Restricting the number of escort agencies? I'm sure that existing agencies would love to see such a policy.
http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-should-quebec-have-over-montreal-restaurants
Montreal Bans New Restaurants to Protect Incumbents
'Montreal has one of the highest restaurant per-capita ratios in North America and the amount of places to eat is worrying local politicians.'
reason.com
Dec. 24, 2016
...lawmakers in Montreal have moved to crack down on new restaurants, in an odious attempt to protect existing ones.
"Montreal has one of the highest restaurant per-capita ratios in North America and the amount of places to eat is worrying local politicians," reads a Canadian Press piece from earlier this week.
If that sounds awful and weird, that's because it is. Studies of the best places to eat often conclude that the more restaurants a city has per-capita, the better its restaurant scene. It's no surprise that the more choices a consumer has, the better off that consumer is.
Montreal does have an impressive number of restaurants. Data shows Montreal trails only New York City in terms of restaurants per capita in North America. As in New York City, that competition is great for Montreal's consumers. But it puts pressure on incumbent restaurateurs. So lawmakers have decided to side with the latter.
The worry expressed by lawmakers has turned into a ban on new restaurants from opening within 25 meters of an existing one along the city's Rue Notre Dame, the street the now-shuttered Sans Menu once called home. Notably, the action comes as "a number of commercial and retail properties remain empty" in this same part of Montreal.
The law "risk turning the city's restaurant scene into a heavily bureaucratized nightmare like the province's construction industry," says the head of Quebec's restaurant association, who notes that real threats to the industry come from "road construction, high property and licensing taxes, as well as the potential for a $15 hourly minimum wage."
Predictably, though, some protectionist restaurateurs support the measure.
"In Montreal you can apply for a restaurant permit and get it immediately—that's a problem for me" says David McMillan, a supporter of the restrictions, whose high-end restaurant, Joe Beef, is an intended beneficiary of the ban.
He's not alone.
"I don't believe in the free market anymore," says restaurateur Carlos Ferreira. "We have to protect the good restaurants."
Ah, yes. The "good" ones. That's clearly an objective question upon which government can and should rule.
This reprehensible backlash against competition in the restaurant industry is, I believe, the logical conclusion of years of so many dumb arguments against food trucks. For years, many restaurateurs have claimed that they should be protected against competition from food trucks. To that argument, food-truck supporters often respond that, well, shucks, Mr. Restaurateur, how come you're trying to get the government to prevent a food truck from operating nearby you once in a while but you're not trying to get that same government to bar another brick-and-mortar restaurant from opening up next door to you and competing against you all day, every day?
Speaking of food trucks, Montreal recently ended its decades-long ban on food trucks, with a twist. Food trucks can't park within 60 meters of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Also: "For food safety," reports a Canadian news service, "the trucks chosen will have to be associated with an already established restaurant."
VICE referred to this ass-backwards plan to pretend to allow food trucks in Montreal as "a Symbolic 'Fuck You' to Poor People and Immigrants."
http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-should-quebec-have-over-montreal-restaurants
Montreal Bans New Restaurants to Protect Incumbents
'Montreal has one of the highest restaurant per-capita ratios in North America and the amount of places to eat is worrying local politicians.'
reason.com
Dec. 24, 2016
...lawmakers in Montreal have moved to crack down on new restaurants, in an odious attempt to protect existing ones.
"Montreal has one of the highest restaurant per-capita ratios in North America and the amount of places to eat is worrying local politicians," reads a Canadian Press piece from earlier this week.
If that sounds awful and weird, that's because it is. Studies of the best places to eat often conclude that the more restaurants a city has per-capita, the better its restaurant scene. It's no surprise that the more choices a consumer has, the better off that consumer is.
Montreal does have an impressive number of restaurants. Data shows Montreal trails only New York City in terms of restaurants per capita in North America. As in New York City, that competition is great for Montreal's consumers. But it puts pressure on incumbent restaurateurs. So lawmakers have decided to side with the latter.
The worry expressed by lawmakers has turned into a ban on new restaurants from opening within 25 meters of an existing one along the city's Rue Notre Dame, the street the now-shuttered Sans Menu once called home. Notably, the action comes as "a number of commercial and retail properties remain empty" in this same part of Montreal.
The law "risk
Predictably, though, some protectionist restaurateurs support the measure.
"In Montreal you can apply for a restaurant permit and get it immediately—that's a problem for me" says David McMillan, a supporter of the restrictions, whose high-end restaurant, Joe Beef, is an intended beneficiary of the ban.
He's not alone.
"I don't believe in the free market anymore," says restaurateur Carlos Ferreira. "We have to protect the good restaurants."
Ah, yes. The "good" ones. That's clearly an objective question upon which government can and should rule.
This reprehensible backlash against competition in the restaurant industry is, I believe, the logical conclusion of years of so many dumb arguments against food trucks. For years, many restaurateurs have claimed that they should be protected against competition from food trucks. To that argument, food-truck supporters often respond that, well, shucks, Mr. Restaurateur, how come you're trying to get the government to prevent a food truck from operating nearby you once in a while but you're not trying to get that same government to bar another brick-and-mortar restaurant from opening up next door to you and competing against you all day, every day?
Speaking of food trucks, Montreal recently ended its decades-long ban on food trucks, with a twist. Food trucks can't park within 60 meters of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Also: "For food safety," reports a Canadian news service, "the trucks chosen will have to be associated with an already established restaurant."
VICE referred to this ass-backwards plan to pretend to allow food trucks in Montreal as "a Symbolic 'Fuck You' to Poor People and Immigrants."
)
