OTTAWA —
An Ottawa small business advocate calls the pending month-long Ontario shutdown “crushing” news, adding there may be more pushback to the new rules from businesses.
Sources tell CTV News that the province will implement an “emergency brake” starting on April 3. As part of the shutdown, some non-essential businesses will be forced to close, including in-person dining at bars and restaurants, personal care services and gyms.
“We were dreading it. I think we were expecting it,” Michael Wood, owner of Special Events Ottawa, told CTV Morning Live on Thursday.
“Last night, I didn’t sleep very much. The social media reaction from small business owners was upsetting. There’s a lot of people, this is potentially their last go,” said Wood.
“I got a message this morning asking if I knew a lawyer for liquidation and closing their business. I think this is going to affect a lot more people this time than it has in the past.”
Essential stores will be allowed to open at 50 per cent capacity, while non-essential retail, including shopping malls, can operate at 25 per cent capacity.
On Wednesday, medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said she recommended to Ontario chief’s medical officer of health that Ottawa move into the Grey-Lockdown level.
“We are at a point that we have never seen before in this pandemic,” Etches said. “We are seeing what we feared. The vaccine hasn’t arrived in time to outpace the growth in our community.”
CTV Morning Live host Leslie Roberts asked Wood if Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services needs to worry about compliance to the shutdown rules.
“100 per cent, you are correct. So there is way more pushback this time than I’ve seen ever before and I think that compliance could be something that our Bylaw is going to have to deal with,” said Wood. “I think that the idea of mounting more protests across, not only Ottawa, but Ontario we’re going to see it.”
The shutdown in Ottawa comes as Ottawa sees seven consecutive days of triple-digit COVID-19 case numbers. On Wednesday, the positivity rate was 5.9 per cent for the pervious seven days.
Wood says he spoke to Ottawa Public Health several times this week, and was asked for possible recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“I think the one thing that people are struggling with is the restaurants and small business have taken these precautions, and when we start closing those places people are going to inherently go home and people are going to go with them,” said Wood.
“We’re taking people out of a controlled environment into a non-controlled environment. So I think one of the big issues right now is how do we control this because the numbers are going up.”
This is a developing story. CTV News Ottawa will have the latest as it becomes available.
