Good Afternoon All,
I'm so very sorry to report that in his briefing this afternoon Premier Ford did not allow Toronto to move to Stage 2. I know this is not the news we were all hoping to hear today. The new Covid case numbers in Toronto are still too high - and although they're coming down, they aren't coming down consistently. So we will have to wait until next Monday to see if we can move to Stage 2 - if that happens then the reopening date would be Friday, June 26.
With this further delay in reopening we will continue to work with our government representatives - included in the top send line of this email - to further extend current funding programs to help small businesses manage these delays and the longer amount of time it is taking to reopen.
This afternoon the Provincial NDP party sent the attached letter to Premier Ford regarding the moratorium on commercial eviciations. The NDP party is pushing for a more inclusive ban on commercial evictions - one that would include all businesses and would be retro-active to mid-March. The attached letter provides full details.
The other announcement by the Provincial government this afternoon was the creation of a $200 million dollar recovery fund for the Heritage, Sport and Tourism sector to assist in their economic recovery. Minister McLeod stated that this sector had been hit by a triple threat due to the virus: economic fall-out, the issues around health/the virus, and the major decline in consumer confidence to go back out. I would ask our MPP Peter Tabuns and the NDP party to push the Premier on a similar plan for small businesses in Ontario. Our small businesses have been hit by the exact same triple threat as a result of the virus - where is their recovery funding plan?
Thanks,
Susan