‘We’re talking about Canada’s number-one, largest commercial street. It requires a buy-in from everyone.’
“The fact is, the plan that was unveiled last week was never presented to us,” said Glenn Castanheira, executive director of Montréal Centre-Ville, the downtown business association, in this latest episode of The Corner Booth.
“We’re not talking about a green alley in Lachine or a corner street in Rosemont. We’re talking about Canada’s number-one, largest commercial street. It requires a buy-in from everyone.”
Hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand were joined by Castanheira and Federico Sanchez, communications and hospitality director at Le Pois Penché, a French bistro on De Maisonneuve Blvd.
Sanchez said previous moves by the administration do not inspire confidence in this latest venture:
“”I’m not talking here about a pandemic problem. I’m talking about a problem that persists for more than a decade. There’s businesses that have been closed for more than a decade. So what is the purpose? Is the purpose to revitalize downtown, to reenergize downtown? Because so far, everything has failed. I don’t think the administration has done anything concrete to help the merchant’s association or anybody to revitalize the situation.”
Watch the episode for the full discussion.