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CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Gatineau stores will stay open later on weekends under Quebec pilot project
Stores in Gatineau, Que. will be allowed to stay open later on weekends this summer, as part of a pilot project in Quebec to see if extended hours could benefit shoppers and businesses. Like many weekend shoppers, Penelope Baker sometimes finds herself rushing to beat closing time. 'I find Saturdays, you start working on a project at the house, and then you realize at 4 p.m., 'Oh, I really need more flowers. I could use seeds,'' said Baker. Starting later this summer, a pilot project will allow non-food retail stores in Gatineau to stay open until 8 p.m. on weekends rather than closing at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. Non-food businesses include stores, boutiques, markets and other establishments. 'It's a good idea,' Baker said. 'I like that they're piloting it so they can probably get the feedback and see whether or not it's worthwhile.' 'Happy, I think,' said Kass Wistaff, manager of Boutique Spring in Gatineau. 'Because I don't mind working more.' Gatineau A look inside Les promenades Gatineau. A new Quebec pilot project will allow stores to stay open later on weekends. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa) Inside Boutique Spring, staff say they're open to working longer if it means helping customers. 'I like having my weekends off, but I also like what I do,' Wistaff said. 'I like seeing people. So, more hours is not necessarily a bad thing.' The Retail Council of Canada says what's important is that stores can still close early if they want to. 'It's a voluntary approach,' said Michel Rochette, Quebec president of the Retail Council of Canada. 'So, if as a retailer, you don't have the capacity of having employees or any kind of benefits of opening more, they just won't do it. So, I think it's the right way.' Some shoppers think the change could also help boost employment. 'All the students, they don't have jobs,' said Gatineau resident Dorothy Savoie. 'And a lot of people need a job. So, by being open later, this way, the extra people will be new people. So, the ones that work there can have their weekends off. And the new people, they'll take hours they can.' Others say they're just happy to shop when it's more convenient. 'It would be a good idea because, well, more people are not doing anything on the weekends at night. People work during the week,' said Ellie Lafrance of Gatineau. 'I live like an hour from here,' added Marielle Otis. 'So it's nice to stay till supper and to be able to go in the store after.' And store staff say they've seen the demand firsthand. 'Some pull on my door as soon as we're closed and they want to keep shopping,' said Wistaff. 'So, I think they'd like it.' The one-year pilot project will start in late August or early September. With files from CTV News Montreal's Joe Lofaro
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Psychologist tries to back-track child abuse admissions
A former psychologist says he was misled into pleading guilty to sexually abusing eight male patients after his lawyers told him he'd be jailed for less than five years by doing so. The 59-year-old, who cannot be legally named, is on trial in the NSW District Court for raping and molesting a 15-year-old boy in his office on the state's north coast in mid-2017. The teen attended two counselling sessions with the clinical psychologist who has been accused of watching pornography on his phone and suggesting the youth attend a nudist beach to relieve stress. Prosecutors have shown jurors alleged admissions made by the man to sexually abusing eight other patients, attempting to prove he had a tendency to act in a certain way. However, the 59-year-old claims he was coerced into making the admissions in 2019 by his former lawyers at Sydney-based firm Nyman Gibson Miralis and his former barrister Michael Gleeson. The court heard evidence on Thursday by former Nyman Gibson Miralis solicitor Penelope Baker about her then client's decision to plead guilty and sign a statement of agreed facts relating to the eight complainants. The psychologist claimed Mr Gleeson advised that he would get a maximum jail term of eight years with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years because of the pleas, the jury heard. A file note from a 2020 conference with Ms Baker revealed the psychologist was "gobsmacked" that estimates for his non-parole period had been expanded to five to seven years instead. "I was very disappointed," he said, according to the note. "I'm feeling that he has let me down, I'm doubting everything he's done." The psychologist was swiftly advised that if he pleaded not guilty and went to trial, he would have a very high risk of losing and receiving 10 years' minimum in prison, the jury was told. After he requested to reverse his pleas, Ms Baker said this would be a terrible idea. The psychologist told his lawyer he had been put into a "bad position". "I don't appreciate being misled," he said. After changing his legal team, he told his new barrister Nancy Mikhaiel the day before a 2020 sentence hearing that he had been "seriously misled," jurors were told. "I can't do 10 years, it's not in me," he said, according to a legal note read to the court. Ms Mikhaiel testified under questioning by defence barrister Anita Betts that a non-parole period of under five years was not realistic because of the admissions and number of complainants. She said the sentence hearing was postponed and she withdrew as his counsel due to the concerns raised about the integrity of his plea. The trial continues on Friday. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
