Anglais
Legault to lead fresh faces, veteran politicians into legislature – Montreal

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Quebec Premier-designate François Legault will be welcoming a host of new faces along with some more familiar ones as his party forms Quebec’s next government.
Aside from Legault and a handful of veterans who have been at his side since the Coalition Avenir Québec’s first election in 2012, his team features many political newcomers.
READ MORE: Trudeau Liberals eager to understand CAQ’s controversial immigration proposals
They include a former police officer, an economist who advocates for small government, a pediatric surgeon and an Olympic speed skater.
Legault said Tuesday his new cabinet will be sworn in within the next two weeks, and he will have some experienced choices when filling such top posts as finance and health.
Christian Dubé, a former vice-president at Quebec’s pension-fund manager, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, may land one of the key economic portfolios.
READ MORE: Christian Dubé officially jumps back into Quebec politics as CAQ candidate
Legault will also be looking at Youri Chassin, an economist who until last year was research director at the conservative Montreal Economic Institute. Before that Chassin worked as an analyst with the Conseil du Patronat du Quebec, the province’s employers’ council.
The Coalition has touted Danielle McCann, the former CEO of the Montreal health and social services agency, as a possible health minister. In that role, McCann co-ordinated services for more than 60 health-care institutions, including seven university hospitals.
WATCH: CAQ wins majority government in Quebec, will invoke notwithstanding clause
Lionel Carmant, a pediatric neurologist, is another star.
Carmant, who arrived in Quebec with his parents from Haiti at the age of four, studied at McGill University and Harvard and took part in humanitarian missions in Haiti, Mali and Vietnam. He has been involved with the party since its founding.
Ian Lafrenière, a former Montreal police spokesman, is also expected to play an important role.
He became well-known for his presence at major news events, such as the 1998 ice storm crisis and the 2012 student protests.
READ MORE: High-profile police officer moves to politics as CAQ candidate
Isabelle Charest, a retired speed skater, is also making her political debut wth the Coalition. A three-time Olympic medallist, Charest was Canada’s chef de mission at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games.
Another new face in politics is Sonia LeBel, who was in the public eye when she acted as chief prosecutor at the Charbonneau Commission, Quebec’s probe into corruption in the construction industry.
READ MORE: François Legault leads Coalition Avenir Québec to majority
Her biography says Lebel worked for more than 20 years with Quebec’s Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions where she specialized in criminal law, drug-related offences and organized crime.
Geneviève Guilbault, a former spokeswoman for the Quebec coroner’s office, has also enjoyed a high profile. She managed all media relations during the tragic Lac-Mégantic train derailment and the deadly fire at a nursing home in Isle-Verte, Que.
Legault’s team includes a number of veterans, including Marguerite Blais, a former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister for seniors, MNA Nathalie Roy, a lawyer and former journalist, and Eric Caire, first elected in 2007 for the now-defunct Action democratique du Québec.
WATCH: Trudeau says he congratulated Quebec premier-designate François Legault
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Anglais
‘Business as usual’ for Dorel Industries after terminating go-private deal

MONTREAL — Dorel Industries Inc. says it will continue to pursue its business strategy going forward after terminating an agreement to go private after discussions with shareholders.
« Moving ahead. Business as usual, » a spokesman for the company said in an email on Monday.
A group led by Cerberus Capital Management had previously agreed to buy outstanding shares of Dorel for $16 apiece, except for shares owned by the family that controls the company’s multiple-voting shares.
But Dorel chief executive Martin Schwartz said the Montreal-based maker of car seats, strollers, bicycles and home furniture pulled the plug on a deal on the eve of Tuesday’s special meeting after reviewing votes from shareholders.
“Independent shareholders have clearly expressed their confidence in Dorel’s future and the greater potential for Dorel as a public entity, » he said in a news release.
Dorel’s board of directors, with Martin Schwartz, Alan Schwartz, Jeffrey Schwartz and Jeff Segel recused, unanimously approved the deal’s termination upon the recommendation of a special committee.
The transaction required approval by two-thirds of the votes cast, and more than 50 per cent of the votes cast by non-family shareholders.
Schwartz said enhancing shareholder value remains a top priority while it stays focused on growing its brands, which include Schwinn and Mongoose bikes, Safety 1st-brand car seats and DHP Furniture.
Dorel said the move to end the go-private deal was mutual, despite the funds’ increased purchase price offer earlier this year.
It said there is no break fee applicable in this case.
Montreal-based investment firm Letko, Brosseau & Associates Inc. and San Diego’s Brandes Investment Partners LP, which together control more than 19 per cent of Dorel’s outstanding class B subordinate shares voiced their opposition to the amended offer, which was increased from the initial Nov. 2 offer of $14.50 per share.
« We believe that several minority shareholders shared our opinion, » said Letko vice-president Stephane Lebrun, during a phone interview.
« We are confident of the long-term potential of the company and we have confidence in the managers in place.”

Anglais
Pandemic funds helping Montreal businesses build for a better tomorrow

Many entrepreneurs have had to tap into government loans during the pandemic, at first just to survive, but now some are using the money to better prepare their businesses for the post-COVID future.
One of those businesses is Del Friscos, a popular family restaurant in Dollard-des-Ormeaux that, like many Montreal-area restaurants, has had to adapt from a sit-down establishment to one that takes orders online for takeout or delivery.
“It was hard going from totally in-house seating,” said Del Friscos co-owner Terry Konstas. “We didn’t have an in-house delivery system, which we quickly added. There were so many of our employees that were laid off that wanted to work so we adapted to a delivery system and added platforms like Uber and DoorDash.”
Helping them through the transition were emergency grants and low-interest loans from the federal and provincial governments, some of which are directly administered by PME MTL, a non-profit business-development organization established to assist the island’s small and medium-sized businesses.
Konstas said he had never even heard of PME MTL until a customer told him about them and when he got in touch, he discovered there were many government programs available to help his business get through the downturn and build for the future. “They’ve been very helpful right from day one,” said Konstas.
“We used some of the funds to catch up on our suppliers and our rents, the part that wasn’t covered from the federal side, and we used some of it for our new virtual concepts,” he said, referring to a virtual kitchen model which the restaurant has since adopted.
The virtual kitchen lets them create completely different menu items from the casual American Italian dishes that Del Friscos is known for and market them under different restaurant brand names. Under the Prasinó Soup & Salad banner, they sell healthy Greek options and their Stallone’s Sub Shop brand offers hearty sandwiches, yet the food from both is created in the same Del Friscos kitchen.

Anglais
Downtown Montreal office, retail vacancies continue to rise

Some of downtown Montreal’s key economic indicators are heading in the wrong direction.
Office and retail vacancies in the city’s central core continued to climb in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a quarterly report released Thursday by the Urban Development Institute of Quebec and the Montréal Centre-Ville merchants association. The report, whose first edition was published in October, aims to paint a socio-economic picture of the downtown area.
The survey also found office space available for sublet had increased during the fourth quarter, which may foreshadow even more vacancies when leases expire. On the residential front, condo sales fell as new listings soared — a sign that the downtown area may be losing some of its appeal to homeowners.
“It’s impossible not to be preoccupied by the rapid increase in office vacancies,” Jean-Marc Fournier, the former Quebec politician who now heads the UDI, said Thursday in an interview.
Still, with COVID-19 vaccinations set to accelerate in the coming months, “the economic picture is bound to improve,” he said. “People will start returning downtown. It’s much too early to say the office market is going to disappear.”
Public health measures implemented since the start of the pandemic almost a year ago — such as caps on office capacity — have deprived downtown Montreal of more than 500,000 workers and students. A mere 4,163 university and CEGEP students attended in-person classes in the second quarter, the most recent period for which figures are available. Border closures and travel restrictions have also brought tourism to a standstill, hurting hotels and thousands of local businesses.
Seventy per cent of downtown workers carried out their professional activities at home more than three days a week during the fourth quarter, the report said, citing an online survey of 1,000 Montreal-area residents conducted last month.

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