■ Small-business owners worry relief comes too late,
Business owners cautiously optimistic they will open after many false promises
Hiro Hayashi would really like to be optimistic.
But after seeing his Yorkville salon closed down for the better part of the last year, he’s still not sure if the provincial government’s latest reopening plan means he’ll be styling hair again any time soon.
“This time, I hope it’s going to be better, because more people have been vaccinated. But, it’s happened before,” said Hayashi, co-owner of Salon Bespoke, after Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a three-stage plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions and reopen the economy.
Stage 1, expected to begin June 14, includes the opening of outdoor dining, as well as non-essential retail (albeit with 15 per cent capacity limits for the retailers). Stage 2, which would be at least 21 days later, includes personal services such as hair salons, as well as a bump in the limit for outdoor dining. Stage 3, which includes indoor dining and non-essential retail with fewer capacity limits, would begin at least 21 days after that.
The plan means Hayashi could start seeing customers come through doors as soon as July 5.
But he’s not taking anything for granted just yet.
“I remember the premier saying, ‘Salons can open up April 12.’ Then a few days later, he said we couldn’t. It felt like a bad joke,” said Hayashi.
Small businesses who have taken on an average of $208,000 in debt since the start of the pandemic will struggle without more aid, said Julie Kwiecinski, Ontario regional director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“This is not the light at the end of the tunnel businesses are looking for.
They’ve basically said it’s going to be another month. But there was no new help announced,” said Kwiecinski.
Retailers, restaurant owners and movie theatres are also worried about the prospect of more time in lockdown.
“15 per cent? Really? What’s that gonna mean? I can let half a person in? Come on! This is ridiculous,” fumed Nadine Devereux-Iacullo, who along with her husband Paolo Iacullo owns Capo Salerno, a small Italian menswear shop near Yonge and Eglinton.
The shop’s shelves are overflowing with new summer clothes that the couple had hoped to begin showing to customers some time this month, or at the very latest, by June 2, when the current provincial stay-at-home order is scheduled to end.
“We’ve just got in stock for the summer, and now we’re not going to be able to open for another month?
“This is awful. We already had all the
winter stock we couldn’t sell,” said Devereux-Iacullo.
Many non-essential retailers simply won’t be able to survive another month, said Diane J. Brisebois, president of the Retail Council of Canada.
“This isn’t just another nail in the coffin for retailers; it’s the big mother final nail in the coffin. Keeping things closed until June 14 is ridiculous,” said Brisebois, who argued that retailers are being kept closed without justification.
“We’re not calling for a freefor-all. Of course, there need to be limits. But they need to be open now. Retail has not been the problem in this pandemic. Retailers follow the rules. They police the rules,” Brisebois argued.
Restaurants and bars that have been struggling with shutdowns for most of the past year, aside from a few weeks here and there, and offering takeout and delivery, were also disappointed by Thursday’s announcement.
“We’re ready to go, and to do it safely, so it’s kind of disappointing,” said Ron Keefe, owner of Granite brew pub, who wasn’t thrilled with Ford’s announcement.
“He’s taken so much flak. I think he’s afraid to make any decision,” Keefe said.
The head of the country’s biggest movie-theatre chain slammed the three-stage opening as “absurd.”
“We are all losing the summer. Canadian cinemas have welcomed more than six million guests during the pandemic and there have been zero resulting cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada, or the world,” said Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob in an emailed statement.
“We have been operating safely in Quebec since February, throughout the entire third wave, while allowing 250 guests per auditorium.
Based on what we heard today, cinemas will be locked down in Ontario longer than any other jurisdiction in the world, all due to a government that ignores the facts,” Jacob said.