On the front lines for 85 years! The Association Restauration Québec has worked on many issues over the past 85 years.

First of all, it should be remembered that the desire of Québec restaurant owners to join together was born in 1928 to counter the levying of a sales tax on meals. Less than a dozen of them founded the Quebec Provincial Restaurant Association, whose statutes were not officially registered until ten years later. We were on the eve of the Second World War. When the war broke out, a number of measures taken by the Canadian government (food rationing, labour shortages) forced the Association to make its voice heard at the federal level. In the aftermath of the war, representation efforts session drew to a close, the deputies hastily examined a large number of bills and other regulations. The Minister of Justice of the day introduced an article on the places where alcoholic beverages could be kept. His objective was clear: he wanted to counter the proliferation of places where alcoholic beverages were consumed without any control. However, the Minister of Justice did not want to touch certain restaurants that allowed their customers to bring their own bottles of wine. So he hastened to amend his section of the law by adding two lines. “This section does not apply to premises designated as restaurants within the meaning of the Hotel Act.

In plain language and in accordance with the law, it would now be possible to go into any restaurant in the province with a bottle under your arm, whether the establishment is licensed or not. The law was due to come into force on 23 July. On the 14th, the press seized on the subject and “wine freedom” made the headlines.

The ARQ quickly mobilised and its representatives called for the removal of the lines that were being debated. The government listened to the arguments of the Association and the industry. It then decreed that “all bottles of wine consumed in restaurants must be stamped”. On 23 July, on the scheduled date, the lighter version of the article came into force. It prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages in unlicensed public places, except restaurants. However, the problem of “wine freedom” remained.

203 456 Signatures Against The Gst

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) also gave rise to a good battle led by the ARQ. The idea of the GST was born at the end of the 1980s. In the winter of 1988, the ARQ learned of the federal government’s plan to apply a tax of 8 to 9% on food consumed in restaurants. It was not yet named, but it was already mobilizing. A petition was made available in Québec restaurants in March 1989.

One month later, the ARQ submitted 203 456 signatures to the National Assembly! A mobilization as large as it was fast! Québecers did not want this tax. Ottawa turned a deaf ear. Despite the refusal of the people and the Québec government, the federal government adopted the new tax in the 1989 budget.

Finally, two taxes were introduced on the first day of 1991: the GST, the 7% federal tax, and the QST, the provincial tax. The QST replaced the previous 10% tax on restaurants throughout the province. The QST now appeared on all bills, including meals under $3.25, which had previously been exempt.

Modernizing The Law On Alcohol Licences

After more than 15 years of lobbying to change the situation, Bill 170, modernizing the legal regime applicable to liquor permits and amending various legislative provisions respecting alcoholic beverages, was adopted by the National Assembly on June 12, 2018.

were once again focused on the provincial level. An association firmly rooted in Québec was needed.

WINE ‘FREEDOM’

It was a legislative misunderstanding that led the ARQ into one of its major battles. On June 23, 1982, as the parliamentary

A few years later, on 19 December 1986, the National Assembly voted to create a “permit to serve” despite the numerous protests of the ARQ, which wanted this practice to disappear altogether. The new legislation in force did not completely erase the 1982 “misprint”, as the ARQ had wanted. It does, however, put some order into the practice of “wine freedom”.

Since the early 2000s, the ARQ has intervened on numerous occasions with political authorities to have major changes made to the Liquor Licence Act and the Act respecting offences involving alcoholic beverages, which it considered archaic, in particular the obligation to have a meal when ordering drinks.

This was a historic win for the ARQ, its members and all liquor licensees.

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Nous avons tout ce qu’il vous faut pour faciliter la gestion de votre restaurant : Solutions au point de vente, solutions d’engagement client, outils d’affaires infonuagiques et sécurité multicouche des données.

COVID-19

The last few years have obviously been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure and reopening of restaurant dining rooms on several occasions over a two-year period, from March 2020 to spring 2022.

During this major crisis, the ARQ made it its duty to represent the interests of its members and the industry as a whole to decision-makers. To this end, the ARQ’s Board of Directors chose to maintain a constructive dialogue with the authorities, in particular with the Québec government. The final objective was clear, but not necessarily simple: to reopen the dining rooms as quickly as possible by accepting the compromise of implementing certain measures and obtaining assistance that is as adapted as much as possible to the reality of Quebec restaurant owners.

Given the constant changes facing restaurant owners, the ARQ has been an essential source of information. Present for its members, but also for the industry as a whole, the Association quickly and frequently disseminated the most up-to-date information on all these platforms. Truth be told, even government agencies used the tools produced by the ARQ!