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Tay wants level playing field for smaller businesses during pandemic

'Kids can go to school and sit in a classroom with 29 others, outside of the family stay-at-home orders,' says councillor. 'The whole framework has created a lot of confusion and lack of confidence in the health unit itself and who to listen to'
2020-08-27-Jeff-Bumstead
Coun. Jeff Bumstead proposed of a notice of motion around municipalities pushing the province to reconsider provisions for businesses to reopen under its proposed framework. Mehreen Shahid/MidlandToday file photo.

Tay Township is putting its weight behind Midland's request to the province and local health unit to create a better framework to accommodate small businesses.

Coun. Jeff Bumstead brought the motion forward at a recent council meeting looking for support from other members around the table.

"Midland did a resolution in response to (Barrie's) Mayor Jeff Lehman's letter to the province and the medical officer of health," he said, addressing his peers. "It was in response to the irregularities around small businesses, where some small businesses felt when this area entered the grey zone that they had put a lot of effort in place following all the recommendations by the health unit and the province. And when we went into the grey zone, they were just automatically closed." 

Bumstead said by contrast, larger businesses were allowed to remain open, albeit with reduction to capacity.

"(Small) businesses saw this as unfair," he said. "I saw this as a major problem with the framework when you go through all the levels and recommendations, where the province has deemed some things as essential, such as the schools.

"Kids can go to school and sit in a classroom with 29 others, outside of the family stay-at-home orders. The whole framework has created a lot of confusion and lack of confidence in the health unit itself and who to listen to."

He had immediate support from Coun. Mary Warnock.

"I have no problem endorsing this," she said. "We're kind of behind in this because the province is already looking at making some adjustments because of the push back.

"People must realize it comes in the best interest of our health and safety," said Warnock. "Some businesses are not the same. You can't lump them all into one category, so hopefully the government comes up with a better framework."

Council then unanimously voted on a resolution to endorse the Town of Midland through a letter of support requesting the province to revise its framework around small businesses and residents of Tay, to work on updating and creating a clearer and more consistent framework to the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery framework.


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Mehreen Shahid

About the Author: Mehreen Shahid

Mehreen Shahid covers municipal issues in Cambridge
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