Halifax cafe owner ‘blindsided’ by extension of ban on in-person dining

A north end cafe owner says she was “blindsided” by the news that the ban on in-person dining in the Halifax-area would be extended throughout the holiday season.

On Wednesday, the province announced an easing of some regulations that had been in place, but restaurants and licensed establishments will remain restricted to takeout and delivery until at least 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 10.

“I can tell you that there are businesses that have already permanently closed their doors in the last few weeks, they just can not make ends meet at this point,” said Lara Cusson, the owner of Café Lara on Agricola Street.

“Everybody is doing their part, everybody is following the rules and we're all working hard as businesses to keep it safe for people to come in, so I think we were all a little disappointed that working so hard, we still can't let people in the door to sit down.”

Dr. Robert Strang said the extended closure for the western half of HRM, Elmsdale, Enfield and Mount Uniacke isn't because the industry isn't doing their part, because “they have been leaders throughout this,” he said.

“But what we need to do is reduce the chances that the virus has to spread between people,” the province's chief medical officer of health explained Wednesday.

“So in restaurants and licensed establishments, we need to reduce the longer social interactions where people are not wearing masks because they're eating and drinking.”

However, Cusson thinks if people can gather in homes in groups of up to ten over the holiday season, they should be able to sit down for a hot chocolate at a cafe. 

She said she's had to dig into personal savings to keep her business open, and she's not the only one. But, even if she's operating at a loss, keeping her doors closed at this time might mean customers won't return once regulations are lifted, so that's not really an option.

“Even though we're operating with take-out only, a lot of restaurants have experienced a 90 per cent drop in business,” she explained.

“The holiday season is our time to get back on our feet a little bit and they're not even allowing us to do that.”

Late last month, the province announced it would be providing a one-time grant of up to $5,000 to businesses that have been forced to temporarily close in the Halifax-area, including small, independently owned dine-in restaurants.

But Cusson said the offer isn't as good as it sounds because what eligible businesses actually get is 15 per cent of their average monthly gross revenues for April 2019, or from February 2020 if it is a new business.

“It's not $5,000, it's a percentage of sales. This is really hard on new businesses that can't show what their previous sales were,” she explained. “So people aren't getting $5,000 and I think that's the public perception.”

She fears once students return to Nova Scotia following their holiday break, cases could start to rise again, and the closure could be extended once again.

Cusson would like to see the province provide a specific goal that has to be met, so restaurant owners can have an idea of when they'll be allowed to reopen to in-person dining.

“For Nova Scotians, for the owners, for employees to know when we reach this milestone that Dr. Strang and Premier McNeil set out for us, that we can rally around that, get through it together and meet that goal,” she said. “And know that when we get there, we can reopen safely.”