Restaurateurs predict ‘casualties’
‘Don’t put us all in the same boat. That’s just not fair,’ owner says
Mario Ciccarelli hasn’t given up hope that his restaurant will survive.
But after already struggling through the past eight months of COVID-19 restrictions, the owner of The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro on James Street, St. Catharines, fears many other restaurants will be shut down permanently as new restrictions are imposed.
“We’re going to survive, but there are a lot of people who aren’t, and I feel so sorry for them,” Ciccarelli said. “Most of us take this seriously and we go above and beyond to ensure that our guests and our staffs are protected and to ensure that we don’t go back into exactly what happened.”
A day after Niagara’s public health department imposed new restrictions on bars, restaurants and other establishments, the province announced Friday that Niagara was one of six regions now designated as “orange-restrict” under Ontario’s colour-coded framework, limiting guests to four people per table.
Niagara health department’s previous restrictions set the per-table limit at six people, however, it also required restaurants to ensure all people seated at each table were members of the same household — regardless of whether they’re seated inside or on outdoors patios.
Ciccarelli called it “a way to suddenly lock a restaurant down because you don’t get a lot times when people just go out with their families.”
“Hammer the ones that don’t follow the protocols, but don’t put us all in the same boat. That’s just not fair.”
In Welland, M.T. Bellies owner John Clark said he understands the need for the restrictions.
“There’s been no enforcement under this policy since the start, and now we’re putting some teeth into it,” he said.
“I get it,” he added. “There have been some restaurants that have complied and are doing their due diligence to do the right thing, and then there are some that don’t.
“But I think we’re all getting painted with the same brush and there are repercussions for everybody.”
Clark, too, fears the new restrictions could mean the end of some restaurants.
“Hospitality, restaurants, are such an integral part of our so
ciety. They’re more than just an eating and drinking place. There’s so much that goes on — living and loving and celebrations that happen. We’re the fabric of the community, we really are.
“Now, it’s all in jeopardy,” said Clark, who also serves as chair of the North Welland Business Improvement Area’s board of directors.
“There are going to be some casualties from this.”
Downtown Niagara Falls Business Improvement Area executive director Amanda MacDonald said she has heard from several disappointed restaurant and bar owners in the city.
“Especially for a region that is so rooted in hospitality and tourism, and we’re already taking that hit from the (lack of) international and domestic, but to really curb local spending as well is more salt in the wound,” she said.
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce also issued a statement in response to the restrictions imposed by the public health department.
“We believe that governments at all levels should commit to punishing those who break the law, and stop punishing the lawabiding with overreaching measures that harm responsible and well-intentioned businesses.”
In light of the new restrictions, Niagara’s three New Democratic Party MPPs Jennie Stevens for St. Catharines, Jeff Burch from Niagara Centre and Wayne Gates from Niagara Falls teamed up to send an open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, calling for “immediate financial support for Niagara’s restaurants and bars.”
They said the industry directly accounts for 13 per cent of all jobs in Niagara.