Restaurateur laying off dozens as indoor dining suspended
Vancouver restaurateur Matt Thompson was supposed receive a beer delivery at one of his establishments Monday when he heard the province had announced a three-week “circuit breaker” that prohibits indoor, in-person dining.
“I'm going to tell them to leave them on the (expletive deleted) truck because I don't want them right now,” Thompson said. “I can't afford to spend that money.”
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the strictest orders since the initial lockdown, banning indoor dining at restaurants, pubs and bars, as well as indoor adult group fitness activities, and rescinds the variance she issued last week that would have allowed limited indoor worship services for religious groups.
The order takes effect immediately and will last until at least April 19.
Restaurants will be restricted to takeout or delivery service and will be allowed to serve customers outdoors on patios, but Thompson said that is little consolation because he can't pay all his bills with takeout, and the weather is still too cold for consistent patio business.
“This is bad, man, this will sink a lot of places,” Thompson said.
Thompson, owner of the Five Point Restaurant and Pub, and Alphabet City establishments on Main Street in Vancouver, as well as Cannibal Cafe and Park Drive on Commercial Drive, said his businesses were just coming “out of the woods” under previous restrictions, but were still only at about 60 per cent of pre-pandemic revenues. “With (rent and wage) subsidies, it kind of worked,” an angry Thompson said. “Now it's ... back to square one and we've got to, like literally, I'm going to lay off 50 to 60 people tomorrow.”
Thompson is now left hoping the Anthem Pizza “delivery only” concept he developed during the pandemic will wind up being a “saving grace.”
Monday's public health order wasn't unexpected, said Ian Tostenson, CEO of the Restaurant and Food Services Association, considering the rising case counts and alarming appearance of so-called COVID variants of concern, but it comes at a time when establishments are still in a fragile state.
“We're going to do what we need to do and play the role that we need to play here to try to get this under control,” Tostenson said.
But everyone else needs to buy into what Henry dubbed a “circuit breaker” to bring case counts down and make sure restrictions are only for three weeks, he said, because “we're almost at the end of the rope, in a lot of cases.”
“We can get through three weeks. We can't get through three months,” Tostenson said. “We haven't got the staying power.”
What the industry needs from government, Tostenson said, is for officials to expedite getting money from its business recovery grant program into the system, as well as provide “a consistent runway to operate” in the future.
Premier John Horgan said on Monday that government “has an obligation” to help businesses and communities, and that Minister of Jobs and Economic Development Ravi Kahlon is “looking at how we can bridge these next three weeks.”
For workers facing unemployment, Horgan said government will continue to develop new programs “as required,” but had no specifics to offer.
At New Westminster's Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Archdeacon Richard Leggett said the new ban on indoor religious gatherings was disappointing, but doesn't change anything for his congregation.
Like many of his colleagues in the faith community, Leggett said he is more concerned about the well-being of his parishioners, especially considering increasing numbers of COVID-19 variants.
“Not meeting in person is part of the gospel for me,” Leggett said. “I'm told to love my neighbour as I love God, and loving my neighbour means doing my best to ensure that people are not catching a very dangerous disease.”