Halifax Businesses Look For Reopening Plan
HALIFAX – Business leaders in Halifax are pressuring the government to create a plan on reopening the provincial economy, as more people get vaccinated, and numbers drop. Small businesses have been hit hard by the newest lockdown measures and, in an open letter to Premier Iain Rankin (signed by 13 business groups), they made their concerns known.
The letter outlined three major areas they want to be addressed:
- Increase and extend the Small Business Impact Grant Part 3.
- Share a timeline of loosening restrictions that are tied to health benchmarks.
- Create programs focused on recovery for our downtowns and main streets.
Since the letter was submitted on May 20, the small business impact grant has been extended. Eligible businesses, impacted by public health orders, will receive $5,000 under the extended program.
“We were asking for more money, either extending the program or putting the cap up,” said Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission. “A flat $5,000 cheque, it’s not going to be enough for lots of businesses, but it’s certainly a big improvement over the previous program.”
“I think it’s a reflection of hearing from the business community and how the third wave has been tougher than the first two. Certainly, we give them credit for responding to that.”
Now, what’s most important is having a roadmap on how an economic recovery will look, and when and how restrictions will be eased.
“A critical first step is to establish a timeline for reopening the economy based on Nova Scotia Public Health guidance respecting epidemiology and vaccine uptake,” reads the letter. “We note that other jurisdictions, both in Canada and abroad, already have in place similar timelines and more are being made public each day.”
MacKinnon believes Nova Scotia has done a good job reacting to the pandemic, but now is the time to start planning for the economic recovery of the province.
“As we get more people vaccinated and, as case counts go down; once we hit certain markers, what does that mean? What do those numbers look like in order for us to reopen outdoor patios?” asks MacKinnon.
“We can’t just open things up and expect that everything’s going to go back to normal. We believe there need to be programs associated with that. We need to rebuild customers’ confidence to go back to restaurants, to go back to stores. We need to show people that it’s safe to return to offices if that’s what they want to do.”
The CEO notes that many struggling businesses are wondering whether it is worthwhile taking on more debt to stay open and have a lot of questions about how to survive through the rest of the pandemic.
“We need to move from reactive, short-term, thinking to also be doing proactive, longer-term thinking, to get us back to a normal economy,” states MacKinnon.
“A lot of these businesses, they’ve managed to hang on for 14 months or more through their own creativity, as well as government programs… a lot of businesses feel they’re getting close to the finish line but may not make it.”
A spokesperson for the provincial government told Huddle Today that more will be revealed about reopening the province at Friday’s news conference With Premier Rankin and Dr. Strang.
In the meantime, MacKinnon says small businesses are ready to “roll up their sleeves” and work with the government to get the economy moving again and give people better peace of mind.
“There’s a lot of that fear in the business community right now.”