christiesplits
Senior Member
A rare win for the NDP, and a surprising rebuke to the PC party whip:
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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario
- Thread starter animatronic
- Start date
W. K. Lis
Superstar
zang
Senior Member
Also remember that Ford has touted "Job Creation" as an aptitude of his administration. If you flaunt having some immense power to "create jobs", you should at the very, very least, provide the supports needed to keep businesses afloat so no jobs are lost permanently because of a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. But, let's be fair, it's a lousy metric to begin with.
Speaking of lousy metrics, where's BurlOak gone to?
Northern Light
Superstar
If Walmart for grocery is allowed to stay open, fair enough; but the balance of the store should be closed.
No strategy here will be perfect, and frankly, I remain undersold on whether retail closures will have a material epidemiological benefit; but if we accept that they may, then government should endeavour to appear as even-handed as possible.
I haven't seen any great evidence that points to retail as being a significant cause of spread, although I can understand the concern of having a large number of people indoors in a confined space with less than perfect ventilation.
However, I think we have learned a lot since March and we could continue to keep retail open with numbers restrictions and masking requirements. Many small retailers were already doing that.
But yes, if we're going to have "non-essential" closures, then don't let the big box stores (or The Bay) use loopholes. They can close off sections of the store.
The same with restaurants ... in red zones, why is a 500 seat restaurant treated the same as a 50 seat restaurant in that they are both allowed only 10 patrons at one time? I much prefer the percentage approach with tables spread out.
However, I think we have learned a lot since March and we could continue to keep retail open with numbers restrictions and masking requirements. Many small retailers were already doing that.
But yes, if we're going to have "non-essential" closures, then don't let the big box stores (or The Bay) use loopholes. They can close off sections of the store.
The same with restaurants ... in red zones, why is a 500 seat restaurant treated the same as a 50 seat restaurant in that they are both allowed only 10 patrons at one time? I much prefer the percentage approach with tables spread out.
Richard White
Senior Member
That has always been my thing about Costco and Wal-Mart. Yes they have a massive square footage but at the same time they are essentially just warehouses gussied up to sell merchandise. They are not designed for any serious ventilation nor are they designed to keep people apart.
Costco and Wal-Mart are designed to bring people to the merchandise in a close contact setting. Even with 50% capacity that is still alot of people in the store.
Back in March, Costco did a great job of managing capacity and traffic flow. They could do it again. I can’t speak to WalMart as I don’t shop there.
Richard White
Senior Member
I was in Costco about 2 weeks ago and it was a zoo. There was nowhere near 2 meters between people and it was as crammed as ever.
I was in Wal-Mart twice this past weekend and it was not that busy. It was very much lined up outside but it was not crammed inside whatsoever. I felt safer in Wal-mart than I did in Costco.
Videodrome
Senior Member
My wife went to Wal-Mart when it opened last Saturday morning to stock up. She said it wasn't that bad.
Probably part of that "True Blue" party now!
Probably part of that "True Blue" party now!
lenaitch
Senior Member
The Premier said that he was told by the big box operators that partitioning would be a logistical nightmare. Sounds like a 'them' problem to me.
Richard White
Senior Member
It's not. Just keep it simple. Food, Hardware and Cleaning supplies and anything else is off limits.
Place clear signage at the door stating that all non-essential items will be denied at the point of sale without exception. If a cashier can't tell the difference between a TV, pair jeans and essential items like food and lysol they need to be retrained.
lenaitch
Senior Member
We're clearly discriminating against those who lead a gastronomically-alternative lifestyle!
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Gives new meaning to the phrase "eat your pants". Anyways, there is a simpler solution than asking the cashier to decide - make retailers void non-grocery items in their database and making them untransactable.
AoD
Richard White
Senior Member
In my younger years I worked at Loblaws and that is easier said than done. It is a lengthy process that is done at head office. Not a practical thing on such a large scale for a short period of time.
I refer you to incident earlier this year where a simple price change rang everything up at Mr Potato Head at Canadian Tire.
https://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/10054836-canadian-tire-peels-back-problem-with-mr-potato-head-glitch-in-lindsay/
afransen
Senior Member
I question the value of shutting down retail altogether. I think capacity limits would be fine. Many service establishments--personal services and dine-in restaurants, bars, clubs, all make sense to close.