Mixed reactions to scrapping restrictions

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This article was published 16/02/2022 (1494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The removal of COVID-19 public health restrictions in Manitoba is an exciting prospect for some local businesses, while others don’t believe it will lead to much change in how they operate.

Last Friday, Premier Heather Stefanson and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced a plan to eliminate all of Manitoba’s public health measures relating to the virus.

As of Tuesday, most capacity and gathering limits were removed. On March 1, proof of vaccination requirements will end in the majority of settings. And as of March 15, Manitoba’s mask requirements will be lifted.

Though there had yet to be a stampede of customers taking advantage of the lack of capacity limits at The Dock On Princess Tuesday afternoon, general manager Erin Wells said the pub was “overall pretty excited” about the changes.

“It’s been almost two years since we could operate with no restrictions at all,” Wells said. “We’ve been bringing down extra chairs, so that’s nice. It’s nice to see everything looking more normal and full again.”

Overall, Wells said the number of customers had been increasing over the last two weekends even before the loosening of restrictions was announced.

An end to capacity limits was what the pub expected to happen, so the rest of the measures being dropped is a bonus.

“For sure, not having to scan the [vaccination] cards at the door and making sure everyone’s been scanned and checked and good is exciting because it saves us time, allowing us to greet people and say ‘come right in,’” Wells said.

Because of the expected increase in customers, Wells said The Dock will likely have to hire new staff, a big departure from the layoffs of the last two years.

In an email, Brandon Tourism marketing and communications director Lanny Stewart expressed optimism for what the reopening plan could mean for the local tourism sector.

“The loosening of restrictions should, in theory, provide benefits to local stakeholders in that more people will feel comfortable to visit local attractions, etc. Time will tell on that, however,” he wrote.

It has been hard for the local tourism sector to lose out on cancelled or postponed events, he noted. But with things being added to the events scheduled once again, “there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.”

At Rocked Community Fitness, co-owner Zack McMillan said the biggest problem restrictions posed to his business was having to close. Since they’ve been able to operate for a while now, he said the new changes aren’t likely to affect the gym much.

“We’re currently unaffected based on the capacity of our building and how we run classes,” McMillan said. “The only restriction right now that affects us is wearing masks when you’re not exercising.”

It was about the same at local wellness business Natural Elements.

Owner Kori Gordon said capacity restrictions haven’t been a challenge for her business and she hasn’t been required to check clients’ vaccination status.

However, she expressed disappointment with the province’s handling of the pandemic when it has come to businesses.

“I have very little faith in the government at this stage of the game, to be honest with you,” she said. “I think it’s been handled poorly since Day 1. No real justification for the decisions they’ve made. They just have thrown them out there and expected everyone to follow them, but haven’t given the data or science to justify the decision being made and how those decisions would lead them to where they wanted to be.”

On Monday, Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Barry Cooper conveyed enthusiasm about the province’s new plan.

“For a long time, we’ve asked for some kind of a road map to give us a chance to plan, and I think that’s one of the strengths of this announcement,” he said. “There are things changing tomorrow, there are things changing in two weeks and there are things changing in four weeks. That gives [businesses] an opportunity to look at it and plan accordingly instead of us getting 48 hours notice.”

However, Cooper cautioned that removing restrictions won’t be the only thing determining how back to normal things get. It also depends on how much confidence consumers have in being able to safely enjoy things.

With the rules being phased out over a month, Cooper is hopeful consumers will be able to ease into a province with no restrictions. He also said it gives the provincial government a chance to monitor the data and make sure its plan stays on track.

“We do have a large percentage of the population vaccinated,” Cooper said. “Business has worked incredibly hard to make their places of business safe and welcoming for people. I think all of those tools, all of those conditions will lend themselves to continuing through this process.”

Last Friday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses welcomed Manitoba’s announcement and said 71 per cent of small businesses believe it’s time to lift capacity restrictions, with 58 per cent also believing it’s time to remove proof-of-vaccination requirements.

Businesses need the province to add a plan to make sure they are allowed to stay open going forward, so they don’t end up with debt or close down for good should another lockdown or heavy restrictions be implemented, respondents said.

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