Defiant businesses have more bark than bite
Hundreds of business owners had vowed to reopen Thursday in protest of local regulations
What if there was a protest and nobody came?
A planned protest of business owners vowing to open up in defiance of COVID-19 lockdown rules seems to be a bust, at least in the Greater Toronto Area.
Organizers of the “We Are All Essential” protest had claimed there were 400 business across the country that would be opening up Thursday, no matter what local regulations said.
But unlike the chaotic scenes during the now-infamous opening of Adamson Barbecue in December, there was little evidence of a rebellion Thursday.
Protest organizer Vladislav Sobolev, who also founded the anti-mask Hugs Not Masks group, didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment.
Last week, Sobolev said business owners were increasingly frustrated over lockdown rules he argued were unjustified.
“People feel like they’ve got no other choice,” he said.
At City Hall on Thursday, Toronto Mayor John Tory expressed sympathy for businesses struggling because of the lockdown, but urged owners not to take part in the planned protest.
“I understand the frustration that every business, without exception has experienced — not just the frustration, but the pain and the sacrifice.
“There’s just no question that the pandemic has taken a terrible toll on businesses, especially the smaller ones. But … breaking the law or violating public regulations is never the right way to go,” said Tory, adding that reopening too soon would cause more economic damage in the long run.
“I would urge businesses to follow the public health guidelines, knowing we are trying to have a reopening that can happen as quickly as possible, while at the same time keeping people safe and keeping those businesses safe from a further closure down the road.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Tory said.