North Bay businesses frustrated with capacity limits
The Toronto Maple Leafs can welcome 20,000 fans to their games, but local restaurants in North Bay are still operating under capacity restrictions.
It's something that has restaurant and bar owners angry, and according to CTV News, the province is responding.
Sources say the Ford government is working on a post-Step 3 strategy that will lift capacity limits on businesses where vaccine certificates are required — a plan that will be announced next week.
As part of that phased approach, sources say the government is looking at potentially relaxing mandatory proof of vaccination rules, as long as the province’s pandemic picture continues to improve.
That's music to the ears of North Bay businesses owners. Before the plan to ease capacity restrictions was announced Thursday, they were angry.
“We would like to see a situation where there’s an even playing field with every mandate,” said Ryan Ivy, owner of Lou Dawg’s Southern BBQ.
“The reality is that myself and other operators have dropped at least a good 25 per cent of our capacity across the board. These other venues are able to operate at greater capacities with less restrictions, which is making them more appealing.”
The owner of Average Joe’s, located on the other end of town, told CTV News he would like to see more of a plan rolled out.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Jim Bruce.
“There doesn’t seem to be any type of plan. If there is a plan, they should at least share it so that we have an idea of what we can be doing versus what we shouldn’t be doing. It’s very, very difficult.”
The decision to allow arenas, concert venues and movie theatres to operate at full capacity has left the Ontario Chamber of Commerce asking the Ford government what metrics and tools it’s using to make its decisions.
North Bay’s chamber of commerce agrees, and president Peter Chirico said restaurant owners feel left in the dark.
“They really want some sort of idea so they (can) plan. They’re already having a hard enough time getting employees,” said Chirico.
“They just want to know what those metrics are, can they see trends coming, all of those things. When we get to certain points will this happen, will this happen, so they have some type of way to plan for the future.”
Restaurant owners did say the way they are operating now is better than another lockdown, but said they would like to see more than just the government involved in the decision making.
“If you think that someone is any less safe inside my restaurant then in a stadium I would disagree,” said Ivy.
“I would disagree that I have more staff per capita when it comes to customers to be able to regulate, which means more eyes per person to be able to see anybody who’s not following any of the rules. This is a small controllable area nothing really gets past us.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
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.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.