Passport raises concern | VAT news

On the eve of the introduction of the provincial-wide vaccination passport, it is causing concern in many theaters and cinemas.

“What do I do with someone who wants to enter, who is arrogant and does not take two doses?” “We are not the police,” says Bernard Way. Caza of the ancient bell tower of Magog.

Theaters and cinemas are not in their first restrictions for a year and a half. Even if the majority of institutions indicated their willingness to implement the vaccination passport, several questions remain tomorrow.

“Since tickets are sold online, without it being possible to check whether the people who buy have a passport, what are we going to do with the people who will hold tickets and who resist after being denied entry?” Access? » asks Michel Sabbourin, owner of Souda Club.

In the Independent Network of United Technical Event Providers (RIDEAU), we see that the current passport rules are not 100% clear.

Will the chambers have time to get the cell phones needed to screen apps? asks RIDEAU’s general manager, Julie-Anne Rideau. How do we carry on with school trips when we have students and the general public in the room? “

Among the many stakeholders he interviewed Newspaper, the concern relates mainly to the inevitable ranks that will be formed at the entrance to the institutions.

“If we had 500 people arriving at the same time on Saturday at 1pm, how would we manage that? Asks Eric Bouchard, co-chair of the Quebec Cinema Owners Association. Will all customers download their QR code?”

Robin Blamondon, from Clap, points out that “if we had an app that gave us all the information at once with the image of the customer, it wouldn’t be that complicated.” By performing a double check [avec le passeport et une pièce d’identité]We know that people will never have an item on hand. They will have to go through their wallets, into the bag, and this will cause a slowdown. “

To mitigate the floods, many rooms have hired additional staff.

“We had no choice but to reassign the porter. It cost us an extra salary,” says Charles Deschamps of Bordel Comédie Club.

“We have added staff to keep things running smoothly,” says Claude Desormo, general manager of the Albert Rousseau auditorium in Quebec. What we are putting into place at the moment is to avoid stressful reception. “

Since the passport was announced, there have been many requests for reimbursement at Vieux Clocher de Magog. “When you’re a group, sometimes there’s a client who isn’t in a good position,” says Bernard Way. spend. People are emailed to request a refund at least five days before the show so we have time to resell their tickets. “

However, in the other rooms, refunds seem rather rare.

“It is surprising that the vast majority of clients have not come forward, perhaps because they are already sufficiently protected,” says Melissa Emgdoben, of Albert Russo Hall.

– In collaboration with Cédric Bélanger, Maxime Demers and Sandra Godin.