Restaurants Canada, CFIB criticize Ford on restrictions: ‘Broken hearts don’t pay the bills’

Two prominent sectors are reacting to the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions enforced by the province, saying the government’s decision will do a lot more harm in the long run.

Among the new measures announced by the Ford government, restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments must close indoor dining rooms with retail also affected — including shopping malls — permitted to stay open at 50 per cent capacity.

In a statement, Restaurants Canada vice-president James Rilett strongly criticized Ford and his government, saying his industry “continues to bear the brunt of the restrictions and pay the cost of fighting this pandemic, despite having done everything they have been asked.”

“The data that we have seen show that restaurants are NOT the problem, yet we continue to be singled out and have never been allowed to meet with the Chief Medical Officer or the Ministry of Health to discuss data and strategies for restaurants, but have been turned down at every turn,” Rilett said.

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The VP tells CityNews his sector had a more challenging time managing the pandemic in 2021 than in 2020 due to wide-ranging measures limiting indoor dining and sheltering businesses altogether.

Rilett says the industry needs an infusion of financial help from government officials to keep its businesses going.

“We need cash in hand right now… Broken hearts don’t pay the bills.”

CFIB: “We can’t keep doing this”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) — Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses — echoed Rilett’s sentiments.

“We can’t keep doing this. Two weeks to flatten the curve for the health care system is quickly turning into two years for small businesses affected by lockdowns and other restrictions,” the CFIB said. “Closing gyms, indoor dining, and arts and recreation venues is a particularly devastating way to ring in the new year for some of the hardest-hit industries already on their knees. In Toronto, indoor dining has already lost 408 days to closure. Gyms have lost 395.”

The Ontario Finance Minister’s Office contacted us to say that a small business grant program is in the works. This would be a much-needed relief for small businesses and can’t come soon enough.

— Dan Kelly (@CFIB) January 3, 2022

The CFIB says as a result of the pandemic, only 35 per cent of Ontario’s small firms are at average revenues. The average COVID-19 debt for an Ontario small business is $190,000, and 18.5 per cent are actively considering bankruptcy, they say.

CFIB president Dan Kelly calls Doug Ford to reintroduce provincial grant support for struggling businesses to stay afloat.

“Restrictions of any kind when businesses need to start making up for months and months of lost revenues will be the tipping point for many small firms. It is not lost on business owners that each time the Ontario government has closed businesses, they have gone well beyond the promised lockdown period.”

Ontario gym owner says there is “no endgame” 

Ian Smith, the owner of Orange Theory Fitness in North York, says he’s at a loss following the latest round of restrictions.

“I don’t see the endgame here. I don’t see what we’re going to have to do to be able to operate our businesses,” Smith told CityNews on Monday.

“Prime example right here. We followed every restriction throughout this entire pandemic. We’re coming up on two years. If it meant reduced capacity, we did it. If it meant closing for extended periods of time, we did it. Vaccine passport, we launched, we’ve done that.”

Smith says the back-and-forth is not a sustainable model, adding that as many as 50 per cent of fitness facilities across Canada have already closed. He says more transparency and a clear message are needed from the Ford government so businesses can better understand and prepare.

“What is expected right now from small business owners. What are we expected to do besides close our businesses permanently [and] for good,” he says. “What is the answer they’re looking for.”

As part of Ontario’s new restrictions, in place for at least 21 days, saunas, steam rooms and oxygen bars must close. Personal care services can stay open at 50 per cent capacity, with other restrictions.

Food courts must be closed in shopping malls, while physical distancing will be required in line-ups in shopping malls.

With files from Nick Westoll of CityNews