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Ontario-wide lockdown 'absolutely devastating' for many small businesses – CTV News

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TORONTO —
For many small businesses in Ontario, the province-wide lockdown that began on Boxing Day is the last straw.

One business that couldn’t survive another lockdown is the Pickering Flea Market in the Greater Toronto Area. After almost half a century, the large indoor market with hundreds of vendors is closing its doors.

“The COVID outbreak has made it very, very hard to operate,” Erik Tamm, general manager of the Pickering Markets, told CTV News.

More than 400 vendors will now have to find a new outlet to sell their goods.

“I’ve grown up with a lot of these people,” Tamm said. “These are people we consider family here that are small business owners, and it’s absolutely devastating to them.”

The lockdown is a move to fight against COVID-19, which has been showing no signs of slowing in the province. But it’s also a blow to many small retailers.

In December, ahead of the province-wide lockdown, the Ontario government announced a new small business support in the form of a one-time grant between $10,000 and $20,000, which businesses can apply for.

A federal program to assist small businesses, the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), was extended three times, in July, August, and September. This month, the Ontario government also extended the ban on commercial evictions until Jan. 31 for any businesses that were eligible for CECRA.

But with rent still piling up, and businesses facing fewer sales due to the new lockdown, it’s still not enough for many small retailers.

“For some of them, this will mean the difference between staying in business and going out of business unfortunately,” Bruce Winder, a retail expert, told CTV News.

The lockdown will be in place in southern Ontario until Jan. 23. Provincial measures will lift for northern Ontario on Jan. 9.

Malls and retail stores are closed for in-person shopping — although they can provide curbside pickup — while restaurants can only provide takeout, drive-thru and delivery orders.

“Small businesses are getting creamed here,” John Borsten told CTV News. “Like, it’s bad.”

Borsten is the owner of five restaurants in Ottawa, and believes it’s “non-sensical” for his city to be under restrictions as stringent as places in Ontario with much higher case levels.

“Just because Toronto has high cases, I don’t understand why they would do that,” he said. “We were happy with [the earlier] system, at least we can see where we can prepare — this came out of nowhere.”

During the lockdown, essential businesses such as supermarkets, pharmacies and retailers that sell primarily food can stay open.

It’s dealt a blow to sales across the whole province.

“Typically on a day like today we would have seen 25 million transactions take place,” said Marvin Ryder, a professor at McMaster University’s Degroote School of Business. “We don’t think we’re going to see half of that, and that’s really going to put a damper on retailers.”

Gyms and fitness facilities are also forced to close their doors.

That has prompted one gym owner to push back against the Ford government, saying fitness is even more important right now.

“We have a role that we can play, to actively help in the fight against this pandemic, by making sure that people in our community are staying healthy,” Pete Shaw, owner of CrossFit NCR, told CTV News.

Some small businesses are trying to adapt by shifting their sales online, something that has been good for Dr. Disc’s business, a record store in Hamilton.

“We interacted with the community, we have a lot of community support, so I can’t thank our community enough,” Mark Fukawara, owner of Dr. Disc, told CTV News.

For small business owners impacted by business closures, the new COVID-19 vaccines being approved in Canada are the light at the end of this very long tunnel.

They hope that by the summer, life — and business — will be back to normal. 

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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AP NFL:

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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