news // no. 4 theotherpress.ca Letter from Vancouver restaurants ask for apology from Bonnie Henry » Industry says the last-minute liquor announcement left restaurants scrambling Jessica Berget Assistant Editor M any Vancouver restaurant owners signed a letter asking for an apology from Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry after she announced last minute that liquor sales would be closed by 8pm on New Year’s Eve. Henry’s announcement came on December 30, one day before New Year’s Eve, which restaurant owners argue was not sufficient time for them to prepare for this new restriction. COVID across the country » What’s happening with the pandemic in Canada this week Craig Allan Business Manager lhe pandemic is continuing to spread across Canada this week. With more vaccines coming, and COVID spreading in various places across the country, what is going on in the fight against COVID? Last month, vaccines finally began to roll out across the country, but just when it looked like Canada finally was going to have the upper hand on the COVID virus, it was discovered that new variants of the disease from the United Kingdom and South Africa have entered Canada. While this new variant is still cured by the vaccine, it is said to be more contagious than the original COVID-19. The CDC says however there is no evidence that this new variant causes severe illness or increases the risk of death. A worsening of coronavirus is not something Canada needs right now. While BC has been managing COVID without complete lockdowns or strict curfews, other areas of the country have not been so lucky. Earlier this month, Quebec Meeru Dhalwala, co-owner of Vij’s in Vancouver, wrote the letter to express her and many other restaurants’ frustration with the decision. The letter has since been signed by 13 Vancouver restaurants. One part of the letter reads, “There was no prior indication leading up to New Year's Eve that our rules for service would change. Many restaurants lost their 8 pm bookings altogether—think of the inventory and wasted food—while others became inundated with last-minute take-out orders for which they weren't prepared [...] On the last evening of a very difficult 2020, instituted a province wide curfew, where no one is allowed to go out at night for non-essential reasons, and gathering with others is forbidden. The rule is so strict that to get around the order, a couple decided to go out with the wife leading her husband around while he sported a dog collar. Since walking a dog is exempt from the curfew, they felt that this was an appropriate workaround. It was not, and they were fined $3000 by a bylaw officer. In Ontario, all non-essential travel has been strongly discouraged, though many have a problem defining exactly what that means. Getting back to the vaccine, while the rollout has been slow, it is set to ramp up in April, with the government of Canada promising to have one million vaccine deliveries per week starting in April. Canada is set to have every person who wanits the vaccine vaccinated by September. Though the vaccine does reduce the symptoms of COVID in a patient, it cannot prevent someone from getting COVID. The vaccine will save lives, but has not been proven to stop someone who is already vaccinated from contracting COVID. you created havoc for so many people who believed their New Year’s Eve was safely planned.” In addition to an apology from the Provincial Health Officer, the letter also calls for a commitment from public health officials that they will receive more notice about any COVID-19 restrictions placed in the future. “Restaurants have not been found to be hotspots for any kind of COVID infection. So, we consider ourselves part of the team that is keeping our society calm, safe and kind. And so, what happened on New Year's Eve, we had Photo by Billy Bui One of the few bright spots in this pandemic may be the National Hockey League (NHL), who began their season this past Wednesday. Because of COVID restrictions preventing American teams from coming to Canada due to the 14-day quarantine, the NHL has had to change the way the leagues divisions are structured. The most exciting aspect of this change is that for the first time ever, the Canadian teams will be playing in an all Canadian division, dubbed the North Division. This means that the Canadian teams will play each other exclusively. Also, the playoff format means that no matter what, a Canadian team will make it to the final four. This may very well be Canada’s best shot at bringing no indication that anything was going to change,” said Dhalwala in a Global News article. Another restaurant co-owner and president of Autostrada Hospitality says New Year's Eve was the first time he has seen customers rebel against the restrictions. “Guests literally were saying, no I’m not going to let you clear my wine, I paid for it and this rule is B.S.,” he said in a CTV News article. “It put us ina really challenging situation, we had no time to prepare for this sort of response from guests.” Henry has since responded to this letter but has not offered an apology to the restaurant industry or agreed to given them more notice as the letter asks. Henry’s response reads, “I recognize the temporary restrictions put in place around alcohol sales on New Year's Eve presented another challenge to the restaurant and food service industry [...] The decision to limit alcohol sales temporarily on New Years Eve was made in response to concerns expressed by members of the industry, municipal leaders, and public health officials that unsafe situations fuelled by alcohol were likely to lead to an increase in the transmission of COVID-19.” Dhalwala says she understands the reason for the rule, but the announcement’s timing left restaurants scrambling to deal with other issues like too much inventory, staff schedules, and accommodating a surplus of takeout orders they were not prepared for. “We didn't know what to do, we didn’t know what hit us. And it was so unnecessary,” she said ina Global News article. 3 co => = > ie) ° £ ° = a home the Stanley Cup, which has not been awarded to a Canadian team since 1993.