Restaurants facing 'lockdown by stealth' call for government support

The rapidly-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 has meant another round of restrictions for restaurants, and some fear this might be the final round they can go. 

Now that Ontario restaurants are mandated to 50 per cent capacity and shorter opening hours, Harriet Clunie, the executive chef at Das Lokal, wants to see governments step up with more support.   

"What's at stake is the business itself and the jobs of my staff," she told CBC's Ottawa Morning. "We need support. We're in trouble."

Her bistro in Ottawa's Lowertown has had reservations wiped out in recent weeks and all holiday parties cancelled — not that there were many to begin with, she said. 

Clunie is now calling on other business owners to be frank about how much they're hurting.

"If we wait until it's really, really, really bad, you know, the government doesn't really work that quickly," she said. "So by the time we would ask for that help … it would be way too late." 

Ontario will announce new supports for businesses impacted by recent public health restrictions, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday. A news release is expected Wednesday afternoon.

Lucrative holiday season cancelled

Businesses haven't recovered from the last two years, Clunie said, and many were counting on a lucrative holiday season to get them through.

"Christmas and all the way up to New Year's, it's when restaurants make their money. And it carries them for January, February, March, all those other months," said Milad Khalil, chef and co-owner of Napoli's Cafe, on CBC Radio's All in a Day.

"You almost need a new business plan every month," he added. "New Year's is around the corner … reservations have been set. Menus have been planned. Beer, stock, wine, everything has been paid for already." 

Khalil said it's not just capacity limits cutting into business, but also diners' very understandable fear of catching COVID-19.

"As soon as they hear on the news the cases are rising, Omicron, all this other stuff is happening … Obviously, people get scared."

And nothing about the current circumstances is making it easier for restaurants to hire staff, Khalil said, something they've been struggling to do for months.

"You just can't say, 'Hey, you're off one week, you're on another.' Our staff have families, our staff have mortgages, they have bills," he said. 

Problems with new benefit

Last Friday, the federal government did establish a new COVID-19 support called the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.

However, it's been panned by critics because no region in the country is under full lockdown, which is when the benefit would kick in. That means no one is accessing it.

While it's designed to provide temporary income support like CERB and its other predecessors, Ivan Gedz, co-owner of Union Local 613 and Jabberwocky, said at $300 a week the new benefit is not enough help.

For Gedz, the current situation is "a lockdown by stealth." By not enacting lockdown measures, the government is "ducking" its responsibilities, he said.

"As a society writ large, you make these decisions as to whether or not … these types of establishments should continue to exist," he said.

"And if we wish for them to exist, then we need to support them appropriately."