Lock-downs, vaccination mandates and passports are about as divisive an issue as there ever could be. Most everyone is living with some kind of fear and from the messages I’m receiving, it just keeps getting worse for our small businesses.
Throughout this pandemic, small businesses have taken the brunt of the restrictions. From the get-go, businesses were able to pivot and operate safely with reduced capacities, plexiglass, contact tracing and being able to ensure every customer hand sanitized. Their efforts far exceeded their large retail counter-parts. And our local small businesses were even left behind by the decision to restrict us from moving ahead with the rest of the province in June 2020. I brought a resolution to Council in December 2020 calling on the Province to level the playing field.

The provincial vaccine certificate puts further burden on our restaurants, gyms, sports facilities and other venues. They will be tasked, with seemingly no support from the province, with enforcing these restrictions whether they agree to them or not. And they do so under threat of fines and more.

I’ve been getting contacted by a few business owners that will be impacted and here is some of what they’ve shared:
*they cannot afford to hire staff to manage the restrictions;
*they do not want to be put in the position of enforcing the restrictions;
*they’ve appreciated all the support the community has given them over the last year and a half and see this new policy as divisive and not helpful;
*they are worried about their staff being mistreated by customers they have to turn away and by customers that are angry about waiting while they work through the required processes;
*they are worried about fines;
*they are worried about losing customers;
*they are worried about losing staff that are already getting hard to come by;
*they are worried about losing their liquor licenses which they would likely never be able to get back;
*they are worried that they’ve been hanging on by a thread for over a year and this policy will make it worse.

No one wants to cause anyone else to become ill. Everyone wants their family, friends, staff and customers to remain healthy.

ALL businesses deserve our continued support. If you cannot enter because you’re not participating in the provincial vaccine certificate, continue to purchase through curb-side and take-out. If you disagree with the policy, direct that frustration at the policy makers, not your friends and neighbours who, just like you, are doing their best in these unsettling times.

There is only one way to get through this: TOGETHER.