Study shows 80 per cent of restaurants still need subsidies to survive winter months
Throughout the pandemic, restaurants have benefitted from federal and provincial subsidies to keep their doors open, but those subsidies are coming to an end.
A Restaurants Canada survey shows many are not likely make it though the winter if the federal subsidy is cancelled at the end of this month.
“The most recent survey we’ve found that 80 per cent are just getting by, or losing money,” says James Rilett, Restaurants Canada VP for central Canada. “Debt loads because of higher prices of foods and energy prices. What we’re saying is we definitely need the support systems that the federal and provincial governments have put in to continue so that we can try and get though this period of unprofitability.”
John Borsten owns several restaurants in Ottawa. He’s calling for an immediate return to full capacity.
“I’m my opinion, as long as they are limiting our capacity, they have to keep subsidizing us,” says Borsten. “You’re forcing me to close. We’re paying our full rent for half the restaurant. I've been doing that for a year and a half. The government has helped, but could I have done that otherwise? No. If they hadn’t done that, there wouldn’t be anything left.”
The restaurant industry questions how sports stadiums and movie theatres can have full capacity, with food and drink options, but restaurants cannot. Infection control epidedemiologist Dr. Colin Furness agrees.
“A full stadium is a bad idea. A full restaurant, if rules are being followed, is not a bad idea,” says Furness. “When you’ve got a gigantic crowd—I think about the lineups in stadiums at bathrooms, the lineups at concession stands, the pushing and jostling to get in and out—I wouldn’t do that for any money because I’ve got an unvaccinated child at home.”
But the Ontario Ministry of Health says having 20,000 cheering fans in a sports arena isn’t as dangerous as a restaurant dining room saying, “They are higher risk settings - prolonged close contact in enclosed spaces where face coverings are removed for the entire duration when seated.”
Furness and Rilett disagree, saying no one is wearing masks in sports stadiums either.
“In stadiums they’re not wearing masks and, even if they were, it does not compensate for everything I talked about with respect to lineups at concession stands and bottlenecks at bathrooms and going in and out. So there is no justification for this.”
Rilett adds, “They get a couple drinks, they get some popcorn they get other food and things happen and they just start yelling and cheering and the mask never goes back on.”
The Ministry of Health says they will continue to monitor the data and evaluate when it may be safe to consider lifting limits in other settings.
Borsten says limiting fully vaccinated restaurants makes no sense.
“Everybody inside over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated, but yet we have to maintain capacity restrictions. Nobody can make sense of this.”
The federal government is now in talks with industry, there’s speculation subsidies may continue into late November.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.