Good Afternoon All, I've been on the phone this morning with a few of you - there is frustration that our Premier has not stepped up and legislated a rent freeze for small and medium businesses for the next 60 or 90 days. The measures announced yesterday by the Prime Minister will provide some assistance but do not deal with the immediate concern about rent. In all the conversations and emails that I've had with our government reps this week…

Good Afternoon All, For the first time in ages I'm sending an email that contains some promising news. Prime Minister Trudeau just announced financial assistance for small and medium businesses. These include: 1. Wage subsidy increased from 10% to 75% 2. A one year $40,000 no interest loan secured by the Federal government with the first $10k being forgiven. The PM said that he will provide full details by Monday. Below is a copy of his announcement from a few…

Good Afternoon All, Once again I'm asking for your help. April 1st is 6 days away and I know that many of you are concerned about your rent payments and relations with your property landlords. There currently is no safety net for commercial renters. Yesterday myself and some of our Board of Directors participated in a 2 hour conference call with Councillor Fletcher, members of the City's Economic and Development Division and all of the other BIAs located within Ward…

Good Morning All, First I would like to thank you for your generous outreach this past weekend to our area Kennedy House. They're in need and despite the situation we all find ourselves in, those of you who are able reached out to offer help. I've always believed that we have the best BIA and the best members but the generosity and kindness that you showed to others in need this weekend just reaffirms my beliefs. Thank you so very…

Good Afternoon All, First, I hope that everyone is managing as best they can during this extremely difficult time. For the past few days your Board of Directors and myself have been working with our representatives from our 3 levels of government and TABIA (Toronto Association of BIAs). The emergency efforts that the governments have announced are a start but there are things that need to be quickly addressed. It is my strong belief that we need to look after…

Good Afternoon All, I know that this has been a hellish week for everyone. The first part of the week has been dealing with closures and partial closures and major concerns about finances - paying rent, salaries, bills. Your Board Chair, Albert Stortchak, and I had a phone conversation with our MP Julie Dabrusin this morning to discuss the financial situation that our business members are facing. We feel there are 2 important paths: the first being immediate financial assistance…