Ontario restaurants slam province's decision to lift capacity restrictions for only some venues
Restaurants and bars have been excluded from the list of venues in Ontario that are allowed again to operate at full capacity, leaving many owners shocked and disappointed.
Tino Bianchi, who owns restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area, says he feels like they are being "targeted" by the province.
"It feels very unfair," Bianchi told CP24 Saturday afternoon.
"We've been through a rollercoaster ride throughout the lockdowns, the shutdowns, being partially opened at times. And it just feels unfair that other venues are allowed … full capacity."
The Ontario government announced late Friday afternoon that starting Oct. 9, it is "cautiously lifting" capacity restrictions at several settings requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination. They include spectator areas of facilities for sports and recreational fitness, cinemas, theatres, concert arenas, horse and car racing tracks, and film and TV productions with studio audiences.
The changes also apply to meeting and event spaces, but indoor capacity is limited to the number that would enable physical distancing.
The province said masking, screening and collecting information to support contact tracing would continue in these settings, while physical distancing will not be required with some exceptions.
The lifting of capacity limits comes as the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs get ready to open their respective seasons. It would allow them to play in front of a packed crowd at Scotiabank Arena for the first time since the pandemic began.
"It's unfair that a venue like an arena can pack in 20,000 people, and people can be sitting side by side," Bianchi said.
"It just feels unfair that big corporations and big box stores are allowed to operate at full capacity, and the small business owners are left in the dust."
He added that it is now time for the government to let restaurants operate at full capacity as they begin their recovery from the pandemic.
"We work much thinner margins at the end of the day. And it's already challenging with prices of food and other inflation. It's really important that we can get back to trying to run our businesses at a capacity that will make us survive," Bianchi said.
In a statement to CP24 Saturday, Alexandra Hilkene, a Ministry of Health spokesperson, said restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments "do not have hard capacity limits." She added those establishments are limited to the number of people that can maintain physical distancing.
"That is because they are higher risk settings – prolonged close contact in enclosed spaces where face coverings are removed for the entire duration when seated," Hilkene said.
"The Chief Medical Officer of Health will continue to monitor the data and evaluate when it may be safe to consider lifting limits in other settings that require proof of vaccination."
Following the announcement, Restaurants Canada expressed their disappointment and renewed its call for all remaining capacity limits for restaurants and bars to be lifted.
"It's frustrating," Restaurants Canada vice-president James Rilett said in an interview with CP24 Saturday morning.
"We talked to the government. We thought they heard us. (We) thought they knew that the industry is in peril that (we) need help. At the first opportunity to help us, they just helped the big, large businesses and left small businesses in a lurch."
He said keeping restaurant capacity restrictions in place "makes no sense." Restaurants are also requiring their customers to provide proof of vaccination to enter their establishments.
"We don't understand why Ontario is singling us out to continue to have restrictions when 20,000 screaming fans can be shoulder to shoulder," Rilett said.
"It's hard for me not to have my disappointment show. Our restaurants are suffering every day, and it just continues. There's no hope that this will be lifted anytime soon."
Dan Kelly, the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, said his group had received many angry messages from restaurants, gyms, dance studios over the capacity changes.
"To be clear, it is good news that Ontario is lifting capacity limits. But doing so for the big guys and not the small makes no sense and leads to questions, once again, as to why a government would so actively favour large firms over small," Kelly tweeted Saturday.
Correction
This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the given name of restaurant owner Tino Bianchi.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Here's what Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will offer renters
The federal government will create a new 'Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights,' which would require landlords to disclose their properties' rental price history to prospective tenants.