The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association has taken its case for small businesses to Queens Park.
With the province set to go on lockdown early Saturday morning to address a rising number of COVID-19 cases, the DWBIA has submitted a letter to Premier Doug Ford, urging his government to amend the parameters set for small businesses as Ontario goes into a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.
The letter to the premier came after Windsor City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Monday to support the DWBIA's correspondence.
DWBIA chairman Brian Yeomans said the current lockdown restrictions favour the bigger retail chains over the smaller, independent businesses that have been hurting due to the pandemic. Some had expressed fear that they would not survive a second lockdown.
"While big box stores, driven by corporations with purses much bigger than those of small business, can carry on with little change, the local, independently-owned businesses that line our downtown are once again facing a terrifying reality," wrote Yeomans in the letter to Ford. "Choosing to implement such restrictions on small business, particularly during the holidays, is detrimental. The impact of such orders is massive. It could mean, for the many of our small businesses that are the heart and soul of our community, seeing their doors shut forever."
A petition was started earlier this month on social media, asking the city of Windsor and the province for support in keeping small businesses viable during what is usually their busiest time of year. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had received over 12,000 signatures.
The DWBIA's action is in line with the position of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which said the economy only suffers under a system where big box chains continue to be open with only capacity changes, while small shops are limited to curbside pickups and online business.
