The Mayor of North Grenville is hoping a letter to the Premier might lead to a regionally responsible approach to reopening local businesses.
On Wednesday, the municipality announced that Mayor Nancy Peckford had penned a letter to Doug Ford, highlighting the impact local businesses have felt during the second shutdown.
Peckford says with schools across the province seeing a gradual reopening, she feels it only makes sense for small businesses to follow suit.
“Here in North Grenville, despite significant effort from the municipality and the businesses themselves, they simply cannot endure more weeks of closure,” Peckford said. “It’s very perilous to see so many of our businesses close.”
In the letter, Peckford says given the community’s consistently low COVID numbers, it might be time for the province to consider allowing businesses to open their doors again, as some simply can’t wait any longer.
She says that all through the pandemic, businesses have been following the province’s protocols and they should be rewarded.
“They know their customers very well, they know their clientele,” Peckford said. “They have small footprints so, from a contact tracing standpoint, they’re in a very good position to know who’s in their store and that those public health protocols are being upheld.”
Peckford has since spoken to MPP Steve Clark – who she feels confident will advocate for a quick and safe re-opening.
She adds that it’s time to give back to the small retailers, who’ve done so much to give to the community.
“They make up the fabric of who we are,” Peckford said. “We’ve been very lucky to have lower COVID-numbers and I would argue that’s because we have had a business community that was very responsive and were able to get many of our needs met right here at home.”
Head here to view the full letter to the Premier.
