Inconsistent lockdown rules putting independent retailers at risk, industry groups warn
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“Masks are just another layer of protection,” Imgrund said.
He suggested that large retailers, if open, should be restricted to selling only essential items, as opposed to the Ontario regime that allows them to open for consumers to buy everything from medication to toys.
“If Mastermind can’t be open to sell toys then Walmart shouldn’t be able to sell toys either,” Imgrund said.
Let’s make sure we punish those who are not complying, versus the ones who are
Alla Drigola, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Drigola, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said both transmission data and the steps taken by retailers to reduce the risk of disease spread should be taken into account when making lockdown policy decisions.
“We have long stressed that restrictions must be evidenced-based,” she said. “Businesses have done the work to implement rigorous health and safety measures.”
Brisebois said her group has been lobbying to make the rules consistent across the board so they’re easier for both retailers and consumers to understand and comply with, and then for authorities to enforce once they’re in place.
“Let’s make sure we punish those who are not complying, versus the ones who are,” she said.
A report published Thursday by Toronto-Dominion Bank said the near-term outlook for Canada’s small businesses is “grim.” Economist Ksenia Bushmeneva noted that the assessment was based on data collected earlier this month, which would not have captured the latest restrictions imposed in Toronto and Peel, or the exit of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island from the relatively unscathed “Atlantic bubble” that includes Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“As such, the near-term outlook will likely deteriorate further in the coming weeks,” Bushmeneva said.
