Montreal Restaurants Have No Game This Fall

La Presse reports that the much-hyped pilot project to introduce wild game at select Quebec restaurants this fall is on hold. Blame it on a shift in power in Quebec City.

The agenda for the majority Liberals will not include beaver, whitetail deer from Anticosti Island, hare, muskrat and squirrel at the likes of Joe Beef, Toqué!, Au Pied de Cochon and Maison Publique, apparently.

"The case is still under investigation, but it is difficult to think that things will fall into place this fall," Jacques Nadeau, spokesman for the ministère de la Faune told La Presse reporter Violaine Ballivy.

Less hopeful was the statement from Nadeau that the government has yet to even establish a committee to set guidelines on the wild game pilot project.

"It will be done soon, but we do not have a timetable."

Toqué! chef Normand Laprise, for his part, urges patience: "You have to do things properly, establish strict guidelines to prevent poaching and ensure traceability. I need to know where the hares I plan to serve at the restaurant come from."