'It's a bit of a scramble but it's a good feeling:' Restaurants prepare to reopen patios on Friday
Restaurant owners around the city are prepping their patios to reopen this weekend for the first time in months after the province announced Monday that Ontario will be entering the first stage of its reopening plan on Friday.
Under Step 1 of the Ford government’s reopening roadmap, non-essential retail can reopen at 15 per cent capacity and restaurants and bars can open patios for outdoor dining.
The province initially planned to enter the first stage on June 14 but declining case numbers and hospitalizations combined with an uptick in vaccination rates prompted the premier to start Step 1 at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, three days ahead of schedule.
“It's a bit of a panic, it's a bit of a scramble but it's a good feeling,” Shamez Amlani, co-owner of Queen West bistro La Palette, told CP24 on Monday. “It’s so needed.”
Meg Marshall, the manager of the Queen West BIA, called the reopening “exceptional news.”
“It is going to be a celebratory moment when our patios open,” Marshall told CP24 on Monday afternoon. “We can go back to a life we once knew enjoying the city and enjoying the night life.”
Albert Stortchak, owner of Der Dietemann Antiques and Broadview-Danforth BIA board member, said the business community is “thrilled” that the reopening process has finally started.
“If the vaccination and COVID numbers roll the right way, I mean we are hoping that the province will accelerate entry into stage 2,” he said.
The province has said it will not advance to the next stage of reopening, which will allow personal care services to resume operations, until at least 21 days after entering Step 1.
“I mean restaurants and my retail, we are opening up but it is the nail salons and the other services, the hair salons, they are suffering badly as well,” Stortchak told CP24 on Tuesday morning.
“Everybody is into debt. You've tapped your family, you've tapped your line of credit, you might have re-mortgaged and government programs are coming to an end so the lifelines are gone. It is the reopening and consumers coming back, that is the lifeline that is desperately needed.”
In a news release issued Tuesday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said a recent survey of small businesses shows that about two-thirds believe the province’s reopening plan is too slow.
“Ontario businesses are incredibly frustrated as they have had little or no opportunity to make sales, while the rest of the country is reopening much faster,” CFIB president Dan Kelly said in a written statement.
Kelly called the province’s announcement on Monday “much-needed good news” for restaurants and retailers but noted that gyms, hair salons, and stores located in malls without a street-facing entrance must remain closed for at least another three weeks.
“At this rate, many provinces will be back to normal business operations before Ontarians can even get a haircut. We need to pick up the pace now, or many businesses won’t even make it to reopening,” he said.
“Most of these low-risk business activities have been open for weeks or months in other provinces, or, like retail in B.C., never closed at all during the pandemic.”
The CFIB is calling on the Ford government to add hair salons and other personal care services to the list of businesses that are eligible to reopen on Friday.
The organization is also asking that the province allow gyms and fitness centres to open with limited capacity this weekend.
According to the CFIB, the three-week interval between further rounds of reopening must be shortened and the province needs to bring in “a new, faster plan that is more in line with other provinces.”
“The level of anger and despair we’re hearing from business owners is alarming. They are watching their life’s work crumble due to the province’s inaction,” Kelly’s statement continued.
“The Ontario government needs to let more businesses reopen more quickly, so they can catch up to their counterparts in the rest of the country.”
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s outgoing chief medical officer of health, said while he understands everyone is “eager to keep moving quickly,” the province wants to ensure cases do not spike back up again before moving to the next stage of reopening.
“We have been careful and slow and we want to do the same thing with Step 2,” he said at a news conference on Monday.
“Our model right now is to look at that three-week period between the steps in order to ensure a steady trend direction that we are satisfied will not just rebound back up again.”
He said officials will continue to assess the case numbers and vaccination rates in the coming weeks.
“We are continuing to review those data points and assess it,” he said.
“The 21 (days) will allow of course for the vaccination and the numbers to settle. We don’t want to be going to Step 2 and say, ‘Oops, let’s go back to Step 1.’”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.