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Mississauga wants to limit the sale of non-essential items in large stores in an effort to level the playing field for small businesses that have been hit by the blockade.
During the city’s COVID-19 briefing, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she will file a motion at the Peel Region Council meeting on Thursday, asking Medical Health Officer Dr. Lawrence Loh to limit sales of non-essential items. .
“We will be filing this motion for the health and safety of our residents. But also, to level the playing field for our small retailers,” Crombie said at a news conference Wednesday.
“I know many of our small retailers are barely holding on.”
The motion comes just days after the Peel and Toronto region moved to the province’s COVID-19-level framework lockdown on Monday.
In-person shopping is banned under lockdown, forcing many local shops to close their doors.
Exempted from the rule are essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, breweries and wine and liquor stores, hardware stores and convenience stores.
Crombie said it’s unfair that stores like Walmart and Costco can continue to sell non-essential items while small businesses can’t.
“Department stores are open right now to sell basic necessities, not televisions, not sports equipment, and not home decor. They don’t need to have any additional competitive advantage,” Crombie said.
“Our small businesses are run by our families, our friends and our neighbors in our community. We can’t afford to see them shut down permanently due to this lockdown.”
Crombie is urging residents to buy from their local stores via curbside delivery or pickup, saying they “need us more than ever.”
He encouraged entrepreneurs to apply for all available federal and provincial programs to support them during the lockdown.
“I am incredibly sorry for what you are going through. I understand why you feel your concerns have not been addressed,” Crombie said.
“And you have my word that I will continue to defend you. For further help from our provincial and federal counterparts.”
The mayor noted that many companies asked her why Mississauga is under lockdown when they claimed that most of the cases in Peel come from Brampton.
“The short answer is this. We are a single public health unit. And we’ve seen evidence that when a city or region is blocked, there will be a spillover effect,” Crombie said, adding that the COVID-19 numbers in Mississauga they remain high to be exempted.
“But today I pledge with you here that when our number starts to decline, while the whole region continues to grow, I will support a more personalized approach, a surgical approach as the premier for Mississauga likes to call it.”
Loh said his public health team will study the motion, what it would represent, and the best means for regulation.
“(We) welcome the discussion and recognize the health and safety as well as the wider community concerns around the motion that is being brought forward,” he said.
While welcoming the motion, Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said there are better approaches being introduced by other provinces.
For example, Kelly cited Alberta, which on Tuesday announced new public health measures amid the rise in COVID-19 cases. Businesses in that province can remain open but with a capacity reduced to 25%.
“We like these ideas a lot more. At least his plan, though, is a lot fairer than the current deal where the big win and the small lose,” Kelly said.
“What we’re really pushing for is a surefire path for small retailers to have at least a sliver of income through in-store sales. And we’re pushing the premier, we’re pushing the province to do just that.”
Mississauga Board of Trade president and CEO David Wojcik said allowing in-store shopping is the only way to help small businesses, not by restricting department stores.
“I think a very good suggestion that has been put forward is to balance the number of people who can enter the stores. And that would also apply to the department stores,” he said.
“This would really level the playing field rather than invoking Section 22 of the health law.”
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