Bars, restaurants awaiting next move by government

Things may start to get a little more inhospitable in Saskatchewan’s hospitality industry.

On Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab — the province’s chief medical health officer — said the government would be consulting with operators of bars, restaurants, casinos and similar businesses to determine how they could help limit the spread of COVID-19.

That may result in businesses that were closed down in the early stages of the pandemic and then allowed to reopen with restrictions once again facing strict measures.

“When they reopened, a restaurant that could have 12 tables went down to four,” Shahab said during Tuesday’s media conference. “Some restaurants have gone back to the same number of tables, chair-back to chair-back.

“Even though the guidelines are being followed, being closer together can result in transmission, especially when our community transmission rates are high. A lot of these guidelines need to be reviewed given our higher transmission levels and a lot of these sectors need to be slowed down.”

That may not bode well for some establishments, but Cathedral Social Hall co-owner Mike Tate agreed the guidelines need to be re-examined.

“We all have our own stories about how we’re affected and you just feel for everyone involved. But yeah, you have to continue to reassess it,” Tate said on Wednesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show. “As we learn more about the pandemic and if there are vaccines coming, there’s no question they have to reassess every day.”

Tate said he hadn’t seen any restaurants becoming lax in the battle against COVID-19. As for the social hall itself, he said the staff has worked to exceed the government-imposed guidelines since they first were implemented.

Moe noted the consultations with those in the hospitality industry, gym operators and faith leaders will be happening within the next week, so changes to the guidelines could be coming very soon.

Tate wasn’t sure what to expect, but he plans to be ready for any eventuality.

“Our entire focus is just simply around reassessing our business and making sure that we have capabilities in place to adjust to what they might decide, whether they close us or whether we have to focus fully on takeout and delivery,” he said.

“I was on a conference call with the Saskatchewan Chamber (of Commerce) last week and only 10 per cent of Canadian small businesses have an e-commerce platform to accept payment for their goods and services online. So those are the kinds of things that we’re all focusing on to make sure that no matter what the decision comes to be, we have to be prepared.”

Some have suggested Saskatchewan needs to lock down — the so-called “circuit-breaker” — for some time to combat the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, Moe said that wasn’t likely due to the impact it would have on the province’s economy.

Tate said he’d be willing to accept a lockdown provided the government offered businesses financial support during the shutdown.

“The challenge is, we’ve gone through that total lockdown from March 16 until I think it was June 8 — so call it the better part of 90 days — and here we are, still talking about (COVID),” he said.

“If you could say to us that, ‘There’s going to be some support and we’re going to get through this with a full lockdown,’ then for sure we would be more than supportive of that.”