Like many others in the food industry, news of the four-week, province-wide shutdown for personal care services, restaurants, bars and gyms hit Caputo especially hard this time around.
“I was trying to make it so it wasn’t going to affect me. But the second the announcement was made, immediately my world just comes crashing down. This shutdown only hit restaurants, personal care and gyms, truly. It’s maddening,” said Caputo. “It’s so frustrating to once again be shut down, and then to have people saying things on social media like, ‘oh, here you go again, only caring about your bank account over the health of our community.’ But here’s what I don’t understand: How is my restaurant being open affecting the health of the community versus Walmart being open? How is my restaurant being open negatively impacting the health of the community versus a local boutique who is now allowed to remain open - which by the way, I’m happy that they’re allowed to remain open at 25 per cent [capacity].”
“I’m just saying, I don’t get where the differences lie, and so it’s a very frustrating time for me.”
Caputo operating at a 'massive loss' doing takeout only
The restaurateur expects to operate at a loss over the next four weeks as The Breakfast Pig is reduced to takeout only.
“Every month that we have done takeout, I would feel blessed to be at a break-even point. We’re normally operating that service at a loss, and I do that to stay relevant in the community, and to continue to offer people great food at a good price - but mostly to continue to employ at least some of the staff,” Caputo told SooToday. “But it has been at a massive loss.”
Caputo goes on to say that it’s a frustrating time for everybody, especially for those - including some of her own staff - who have to rely upon employment insurance and the emergency response benefit just to survive while being subject to shutdowns.
“This is not the mentality of my staff and the working people - they want to go to work, they want to be able to make their money, they want to be able to contribute to their families in the ways that they are able to, and that’s by working hard and making that extra money,” she said. “I think it’s affected everyone financially, yes, and if that’s not enough for people, the mental part, I think, has been the worst.”
Pushing for a regional approach to COVID shutdowns
Caputo believes the province should have utilized a region-by-region approach to pandemic-related shutdowns across Ontario.
“People are travelling, so if the regional approach would’ve been done, perhaps we would have been getting travellers. But I think we need to find a way to deal with living with the virus, rather than just continuing to kill these small businesses and ending with the same result - you know, higher cases and all this stuff,” said Caputo. “I do think that a regional approach is the way to go, because sure, you may end up with a few travellers, but it’s still not going to be anything huge...we’re very stringent with the masks, the hand sanitizer, the distance. I think people have done really well here, so even if we did get those few straggler travellers coming in, they’re going to have to follow our rules - and from my understanding, that’s how you prevent the virus from being spread.”
“This whole shutdown thing, I just don’t understand it.”
'If you're going to shut down, you have to pay for that,' says East Street Pizza Company owner
East Street Pizza Company owner and operator Jane McGoldrick doesn’t understand the latest edition of the whole shutdown thing either. She says that existing health guidelines for eateries are already “10 times more stringent than Walmart or Canadian Tire, which makes the shutdowns all the more frustrating for restaurant owners.”
“Where is your data to show that people are getting infected at gyms and restaurants? There just isn’t the data to support that,” she said.
McGoldrick is imploring the provincial government to look at the situation on a region-to-region basis, which will take research and a nose-to-the-grindstone approach from people at the provincial level to figure it out, before it’s too late for the local food industry. It could already be too late for some, as a post appearing on The Harp Bar and Grill Facebook page Friday indicated that it's closing its doors permanently this weekend.
“It’s incredibly frustrating, and it almost seems like it’s a personal attack. It just seems biased, and like it’s an attack on small businesses,” she said. “It’s incredibly frustrating, and even though I won’t have to shut down, it’s going to be hard for me to have a sustainable business on Queen Street when 10 other food establishments around me are closed because they didn’t make it through this.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Thursday that it wants all governments to look at alternatives to lockdowns and increased financial support for small businesses as several provinces move to tougher restrictions.
“If you’re going to shut us down, you have to pay for that. We need to be able to get tax credits, refunds on all this product that we’re ordering, our wages, all of these things,” McGoldrick said.
'Be gentle, be kind with us and just support us more than ever'
The local entrepreneur wants to send a message to other restaurants and small businesses in the community: She knows the shutdown is totally unfair, and she supports them. And the rest of the community should, too.
“I really want our community to really, really, really put an effort on supporting small business and these restaurants and ordering takeout, because it’s going to be a very sad, lonely, barren place for people to go out and celebrate when these businesses just haven’t survived,” said McGoldrick. “I mean, I have people that have moved up here from Toronto looking for restaurant work, because it’s decimated down there.”
“We are part of your lives, we are part of your family. We’re there when you’re sad, we’re there when you’re happy. We contribute to your community. Be gentle, be kind with us and just support us more than ever,” she continued. “And write your MPP and write to Doug Ford, and show how upset you are.”
Caputo, meanwhile, is asking the public to save its hostility for the politicians, as opposed to lashing out at one another on social media.
“I think people need to stop going against their fellow citizens - fighting, arguing about these points - and take your concerns to the places that matter. Hold these politicians’ feet to the fire. They work for us, and so when you have a concern, rather than writing it on Facebook I encourage you to email Ross Romano, to email Doug Ford - send emails to the prime minister if that’s the jurisdiction that you’re worried about,” said Caputo. “I think to date, Ross Romano has done a very poor job for our community. He was doing a poor job for our community outside of the pandemic, but since the pandemic has struck, he has been nowhere to be found. We have heard very little from him, and he’s actually a sitting minister so he would be able to voice some opinions and perhaps get us moving into a regional approach, or at least bringing that forward to the premier.”
“I’m so, so, so disappointed in his role. I won’t even call it leadership - I just think he’s done such a poor job for us as a northern community, and I hope people remember that when we have to go to the polls next time.”
- with files from The Canadian Press
More local news
Browse local flyers
Weather forecast
Find local deals
View local webcams
Verified Commenter, please