Businesses relieved over no lockdown, but many still facing a tough road
The Alberta government's decision not to institute a full lockdown was met with relief Tuesday by many in the small-business community.
With Alberta facing an ever-increasing onslaught of COVID-19 cases in this second wave of the pandemic, many medical professionals have been calling for a twoto three-week “circuit breaker” shutdown of the economy.
But on Tuesday, the UCP government declined to do that, with Premier Jason Kenney instead announcing a new range of lesser measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
Instead of a shutdown, Alberta retail businesses will now be limited to operating at 25-per-cent capacity for the next three weeks. Restaurants, pubs and bars — which saw hours of operation restricted earlier this month — will be allowed to stay open, though a maximum of six people will be allowed at each table and patrons are meant to dine with their own household members only.
Other businesses — including hair salons and personal services such as esthetics — will be allowed to operate on an appointment-only basis.
At Something2wear women's clothing boutique in Aspen Landing in southwest Calgary, owners Melanie Lablanc and Debbie Patrick were bracing for a possible mandated shutdown of their business and putting plans in place for what they would do if it happened.
“We're relieved it's not a full lockdown. We would have been OK, if we had to do curbside pickup and private appointments. We were willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive,” Lablanc said. “But it certainly wouldn't be easy, and we probably wouldn't be able to maintain the income needed to pay the bills.”
Annie Dormuth, Alberta director with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said Tuesday's announcement is preferable to the broader scale measures recently announced in other jurisdictions such as Ontario and Manitoba. She said Alberta small businesses are in an extremely fragile position, with 40 per cent of respondents in a recent CFIB survey reporting they would not be able to survive if locked down a second time.
“A blanket lockdown would have simply pushed our small businesses to the brink of closure,” Dormuth said. “These limited measures at least give Alberta small businesses a fighting chance.”
Alberta Hospitality Association president Ernie Tsu, who is also the owner of the Trolley 5 Brewpub on 17th Avenue S.W., said a lockdown of bars and restaurants — many of which are already teetering on the brink — would mean permanent business closures.
“We're happy, of course,” Tsu said following Kenney's announcement. “We're ecstatic that this means that people in the restaurant industry who have second mortgages, who have taken out lines of credit and put everything on the line to pursue their passions will be able to hang on.”
Tsu said it still won't be easy for many small-business owners to survive the winter. He said restaurants have been struggling since patio season ended and, as fears about this second wave grow, it is likely that more people will choose to stay home rather than go out to eat.
“Every mention of restrictions that comes out reduces the amount of people going out. So it will be very tough,” Tsu said.
On Tuesday, Kenney urged Albertans to support businesses affected by the pandemic by shopping local whenever possible, a message echoed by Annie Macinnis, executive director of the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone. Macinnis said she believes the measures introduced by the government Tuesday are necessary, and added the 25-percent capacity restriction may not actually hurt independent shops that much, since many are already restricting the number of customers in the store at one time.
However, she is concerned about the degree to which public fears about the pandemic will keep people away from the stores entirely at a critical time of year.
“Holiday season is always crucial to small businesses, so this is going to be hard,” she said. “I encourage all Albertans who want to support their favourite businesses to give them a call and ask, `what's the best way that I can spend money with you?'”