Ontario re-opening plan not what Durham restaurants were hoping to hear

Author: Jillian Follert - Published May 22, 2021
Source: https://www.thestar.com/local-oshawa/news/2021/05/22/ontario-re-opening-plan-not-what-durham-restaurants-were-hoping-to-hear.html

The three-phase re-opening plan announced by the province on Thursday is not what Durham’s restaurant owners were hoping to hear.

Many are just hanging on and say waiting until approximately June 14 for patio dining and much longer for indoor dining will be devastating.

The Thirsty Jester Public House in downtown Whitby has taken the step of launching a GoFundMe in an attempt to save the business.

Close to $4,000 out of a $10,000 goal had been raised as of Saturday morning.

“I understand the restrictions. But the government needs to set up something specific to the hospitality sector, instead of lumping us in with all the other businesses,” says owner Shawn Parkinson.

The Thirsty Jester opened in October 2020 in the middle of the pandemic — as a new restaurant it doesn’t qualify for most government subsidies because there is no sales information from last year to submit.

Parkinson also questions the logic of some of the re-opening plan details, including the fact that outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed in Stage 1, but only four people can dine outdoors together at a table in that stage.

Julie Eves, who owns The Bulldog Pub and Grill in Oshawa, says the reopening timeline for restaurants is "not reasonable" and echoes calls for the province to do more to support restaurants that have lost inventory and revenue through the roller coaster of closing and re-opening.

"We assumed that we would be able to open the patio June 2 only to have it pushed back once again. Experts have sad that being outside is safe. So why can’t we open patios now? Restaurants have not been the problem this whole time yet we are the ones that have suffered the most," Eves says.  "And with indoor dining not opening until at least August is just going to hurt more. Especially restaurants that have no patio."

At 12welve Bistro in downtown Whitby, owner John Allen says the province should allow a full return to outdoor dining, as well as a 50 per cent capacity return to indoor dining.

“Half of the country’s restaurants face the risk of closure and by not allowing them to return to at least limited outdoor dining right now further increases the risk of them having no choice but to give up and close their business for good,” Allen says. “The government needs to trust restaurants like they trust retail stores. Our customers are not picking things up and putting them back on shelves. They are not passing one another all the time in aisles"

Restaurants Canada is advocating for more supports for restaurants, calling on the Ontario government to create a sector-specific program to help restaurants cover closing and re-opening costs.

“Unfortunately, we’re not all in this together,” says Restaurants Canada president and CEO Todd Barclay. “One out of every five jobs lost during the first six weeks of lockdown last year was from the foodservice sector. More than a year into this pandemic, one out of every three jobs lost is now from our sector.”