Ontario’s retreat to Phase 2 feels like a slap in the face to restaurant and bar industry

When she heard the news that indoor dining at restaurants and bars is being shut down again to battle , Marcelle Aleid felt like she’d been slapped in the face.

“I just lost it and started crying. It feels like I’m working 16 hours a day just to survive,” said Aleid, owner of Zezafoun, a neighbourhood Syrian restaurant near Yonge and Davisville.

“Now we’ll have to switch back to focusing on takeout and that means I’ll need less staff. It’s awful. They’re like family,” said Aleid.

Friday, the Ontario government announced a 28-day moratorium on indoor dining and drinking at bars and restaurants in COVID hot spots Toronto, Ottawa and Peel. Gyms, casinos and movie theatres will also be closed.

Aleid and other business owners say new rent and wage subsidies announced by the federal government, as well as a provincial subsidy for hydro and natural gas bills and a moratorium on property taxes, will help stem the bleeding. But they say it’s still a far cry from where they’d like to be.

For Jason Fisher, owner of Junction brew pub Indie Alehouse, it was a bittersweet day.

“My income has been taken away. To tell me I can save on some expenses doesn’t really make things better,” said Fisher.

The new will cover 65 per cent of rent for businesses whose revenue has dropped by 70 per cent. If a business is ordered to close, they get an additional 25 per cent of their rent covered. This time, the money will go straight into the bank accounts of affected businesses, unlike the recently expired Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program, which landlords had to apply for. That’s a big plus, Fisher said.

“The fact this isn’t going through my landlord is huge,” said Fisher. Still, Fisher said, the government support isn’t a financial cure-all.

“We’ve gone from just being a brew pub to building a new brewery in Etobicoke and a new brew pub at Eataly. This doesn’t help me pay off those construction expenses. I need to be back in business,” said Fisher.

While the government support is welcome news, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business worries that it may come too late for some struggling small businesses.

“The announcements are great, but if the money doesn’t start flowing for three or four weeks that’s going to be devastating. Businesses still need to pay their rent in the meantime and some of them might not be able to afford it,” said Ryan Mallough, Ontario regional director for the federation. Mallough also called on the provincial government to reinstate a moratorium on commercial evictions, at least until the rent subsidy money starts flowing.

Restaurant workers are also frustrated by the ban on indoor dining just as patio season winds down. While the federal government upgraded Employment Insurance and created a new Canada Recovery Benefit to replace the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the transition hasn’t exactly been seamless.

Simao Pires, a cook at the InterContinental Hotel on Bloor Street, had been collecting CERB since being laid off in March. While the transition from CERB to enhanced EI was supposed to be automatic, that didn’t go according to plan for Pires.

“They emailed and said they needed to reconfirm my province of residence. I called to ask them why and they said I needed to reapply. If I hadn’t called and sat on hold for two and a half hours, I wouldn’t have known,” said Pires, who sees a bleak future for the hospitality industry.

“This industry was struggling even before COVID. And if it was difficult to get a job yesterday, it’s impossible today,” said Pires.

Workers who had been collecting CERB but who wouldn’t ordinarily qualify for EI can apply for the new Canada Recovery Benefit starting Monday.

Meanwhile, the temporary closure will be devastating for fitness centres and yoga studios, and the effect will be felt long after the 28 days, says Jennifer Lau, co-owner of Etobicoke’s Fit Squad gym.

“How do we recover from governments saying we’re unsafe? They’re lumping us in with bars and restaurants. It’s a lot harder to recover from bad perceptions,” said Lau, who’s also director of the Save Health & Wellness coalition, an industry association.

The head of the country’s biggest movie theatre chain blasted the decision as excessive and unnecessary.

“Our theatres have been open in Ontario since July 3 and, in those 98 days of welcoming back movie lovers, we have had zero cases of COVID-19 traced back to our operations,” said Cineplex CEO and president Ellis Jacob in a written statement.

“We feel that these forced closures, given our proven track record, are excessive and do not take into account our teams’ efforts, of which we are very proud,” Jacob added.

Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter: