GuelphToday received the following open letter to Premier Doug Ford and MPP Mike Schreiner, regarding the third wave emergency break implemented by the provincial government in response to COVID-19, from Jen Ritchie:
Dear Mr. Premier,
I want to start off this letter by stating I did not vote for you but have been very much a supporter of your handling of the COVID response .... until the last several months. Appreciating that these are extraordinary and challenging times, I can only imagine the toll it has taken on you and those around you. Having to lead the province through some very difficult decisions, I'd like to think you, like many of us, are doing to very best job possible given these unprecedented times.
That said, I am really struggling to understand how you, the champion of the "little guy" continues to target and shutdown small businesses that have not played any significant part in the spread of this virus. Small businesses, such as salons - who are licensed professionals and have complied with stringent public health guidelines in order to keep their clients safe- are forced to shut their doors for the third time while companies like Amazon continue to thrive.
Fun fact about the Amazon warehouse in Brampton, it was ordered to shut down in March as a result of a major COVID outbreak and has since been linked to more than 900 cases. Yet the salon which I go to get my hair cut - which, by the way, has taken the greatest care in ensuring not only my personal safety, but of it's staff as well (reduction in capacity, active screening including taking temperature, PPE) has never been linked to a super spreader event and is forced to shut their doors for a third time.
Quite frankly Mr. Ford, I have felt much safer in getting my hair cut than I have in visiting places like the local mall, where no such screening takes place and public health orders are not regularly enforced. How are non-essential retail businesses allowed to remain open at reduced capacity but personal care services (often licensed professionals) are not?
I work in a hospital - about as front line as it gets. I have not had any substantial time off in over a year. I'm tired exhausted and disheartened. More so, I'm increasingly frustrated at the lack of transparency in decision making by this government. Please don't tell me "we need to do whatever it takes to get this virus under control" and then proceed to make seemingly arbitrary-like decisions on what remains open/closed.
You are fear mongering. Telling people "this is a new pandemic" and that "we're now fighting a new enemy" (third wave variants) and the controls in place are less than what they were when this whole ordeal started is disingenuous at best. Either, the virus is deadly enough to lockdown everything, or it isn't - but it cannot be both! If measures such as an "emergency brake" or lockdown are needed in order to curb the threat, then it should apply to all sectors equally, or none at all.
What you're trying to sell to the people of Ontario is a hard pill to swallow.
Forcing (punishing) small businesses owners (who are doing everything right) to close when there is no evidence or very little risk of virus spread is the ultimate of government hypocrisy.
- Jen Ritchie
