Canniff urges support for Chatham-Kent restaurants

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Mayor Darrin Canniff is calling on Chatham-Kent residents to support local restaurants.

As the weather gets cooler and outdoor patios become less inviting, there are still options for diners who want to help the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

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They can get takeout orders, he said, or they can eat indoors before or after the peak hours to avoid crowds.

“We need to support the restaurants,” Canniff said. “Restaurants are a huge part of our community.

“We collectively need to step up and just make sure we make that effort to get out to restaurants, even though it might be easier to sit at home. Get out and do that. Restaurants are depending on us as a community to support them.”

The restaurant industry could lose between $21.7 billion and $44.8 billion in sales this year, according to Restaurants Canada. Last year, sales totalled more than $93 billion.

Sales will likely decline even more in the coming months as patios close while consumers may be uneasy about dining indoors, according to a news release from the national association representing Canada’s food service industry.

Restaurants and bars in Ontario can have no more than 50 customers indoors. Physical distancing is required.

Those restrictions won’t loosen until at least early October. Minister of Health Christine Elliott announced this week a four-week pause on the province’s reopening plans because of a rise in COVID-19 cases.

“I’ve talked to a number of restaurateurs that are considering heaters (for outdoor patios) and the like,” Chatham-Kent chief administrative officer Don Shropshire said. “But obviously, the more that we march into the cold weather, the more difficult that’s going to be.”

The municipality set up a $200,000 small business grant recovery program in June to help businesses impacted by the pandemic. Successful applicants could receive up to $5,000.

“Council is continuing to monitor what the situation looks like for restaurants and all of our businesses,” Shropshire said. “Depending on how long things last and what sort of feedback we’re getting from the community, we might be going back to council to see what we can do.

“But … the municipality has very small windows on what we can actually provide support on. The vast majority of the funding is really coming from the province and the federal government.

“At the same time, we’re trying to keep our property taxes low for the same group of people, not just restaurateurs but all of our taxpayers that have suffered financially.”