N.S. Small Business Owner Opens Shop In Protest, Plans To Fight $12,000 Ticket In Court
KENTVILLE — Early this morning, the Kentville police rolled up to Mike Huntley’s business, Huntley’s Diving And Marine.
According to Sgt. Kevin Pick, it was the second time in four days police had come to the same Kentville business and, just like the first time, the interaction was calm and the business owner was polite.
Pick told Huddle an officer first visited the business May 21 after receiving complaints it was open. That day, the officer asked the business to close, which it did.
However, when the business reopened today officers had no choice but to hand down a $11,622.50 ticket for violating Nova Scotia’s Health Protection Act.
Pick wouldn’t say which business police visited, but Huntley confirmed it was his. He’s not ashamed of the fine, in fact he expected it. But he has no intention of paying it.
“I’ll fight it in court,” he told Huddle on May 25. “I’m not paying $12,000 just for the hell of it.”
Huntley says he’s kept his shop open over the past few days to protest what he feels is the government’s unfair treatment of small businesses.
“I’m only doing this to make a statement,” he said. “This ridiculous government we have is screwing small businesses over and offering little dribs and drabs of tiny amounts of funds to try to keep a business open. Yet all the big box stores can do whatever they want because it’s too hard for them to tell them to close some of the aisles down? Give me a break. It’s a joke.”
Earlier this month, the province went into what Premier Iain Rankin called “almost a full lockdown” as Covid-19 cases surged.
The lockdown forced most small businesses to shut down almost entirely but left room for businesses selling “essential” products to remain open under specific conditions.
The province has offered some support to small businesses impacted by the rules (most notably a series of $5,000 grants), but many business owners have argued it’s not enough.
Many are also upset that large, “big-box” stores have been able to stay open and sell non-essential goods while small shops have been forced shut.
Huntley says he and other business owners are struggling to stay afloat under the latest round of shutdowns. The non-essential businesses will have to stay closed until at least the middle of June, but the province’s $5,000 Small Business Impact Grants will only cover about two-and-a-half days of expenses for Huntley.
Huntley says he’s become so sick of being mistreated by the government that he felt his only choice was to open up in defiance of public health orders.
“I don’t have $12,000 to throw away but I’m willing to stand up and fight,” he says.
Huntley says he’s not necessarily asking for more money from the government. What he wants is for the province to allow small businesses to open to customers if they follow Covid-19-related safety precautions.
He points out that anyone who enters his shop must wear a mask and that he collects the names and phone numbers of all his customers.
Large retailers can’t contact trace like that, and Huntley also believes they can’t enforce mask rules as easily as small businesses. People would be much safer in most small businesses than they are at the grocery store, he says.
“What the government needs to do is let us all open, but with extreme restrictions: by appointment only [or] one or two people at a time. Because I’m going to pass that same person at Walmart the next day, anyway,” he says.
Huntley has until July 23 to pay his ticket, which he says he has no intention of doing. Instead, he plans to fight the ticket in court.
He says he hopes his protest pushes the government to let small businesses open in a limited way.
“Just to raise awareness that whatever government funds or whatever just don’t cover it,” he says. “We need to be open again.”
Trevor Nichols is a staff writer with Huddle in Halifax. Send him feedback or story suggestions at: [email protected].