Should the government be using taxpayer money to support restaurants? Justify your position.
The COVID pandemic and its resulting lockdowns have impacted many small businesses such as restaurants and have been calling for government support.
Full Text Translate V Canada has admittedly lagged behind other developed nations in terms of productiva growth and innovation for years. but when the first wave of Ice ltdowns swept the country in March. Canada's entrepreneurs and captains of industry proved to be a resourceful and adaptable bunch. Clothiers switched to making gowns and masks. Distilleries were churning out hand sanitizer. Auto manufacturers were producing ventilators. And plastics companies began manufacturing CCI'v'ID test kits. But for many industries. there is only so much that can be done in the face of government-mandated closures and widespread fears of congregating in public places. Canada lost three million jobs in lvlarch and April. and the majority of them were in retail. food services. hotels. construction and manufacturing. It'tl'hile the economy has recovered remarkably well since then. some industries are still hurting. and things are only going to get worse with large swaths of the country now ha ck in lockdown. The restaurant and accommodation industry has understandably struggled to recuperate. According to Restaurants Canada. a trade association. while total employment in Canada recovered 81 per cent of the jobs lost between May and November. the food-service industry recovered just 5? per cent. In total. the food-services and accommodation industry experienced a net loss of 260,000 jobs since February. The importance of this industry to the economy cannot be overstated: it employed over'l .2 million Canadians before the pandemic. and that doesn't include all the farmers. fishermen. winemakers and others who rely on it for their livelihoods. It also disproportionately employs young adults. minorities and women. who have been particularly hard hit by the economic fallout from CCI'v'lD-T 9. But the value restaurants offer goes far beyond levels of employment and economic output: they are a part of our culture and our communities. Think of some of Canad a's iconic pubs and eateries. Lilce Schwa rtz's. the Montreal deli that was founded by Jewish-Romanian immigrants in 1923 and has been the subject of a boo it. a musical and two documentaries. Dr Victoria's Six Mile Pub and Eatery. which has been around since 1856 and has been known. at various times. as a gathering place for British sailors. nJm-runners. bootleggers and locals. Or just about any small town restaurant th at. in normal times. is one of the few places where the entire community socializes together. Such establishments will be crucial when this pandemic is over. They will be the places where we will come together to celebrate birthdays and an niversaries. or grab a drinlt with friends and family. Humans are social animals and there will come a time when we will all need to feel normal again by sitting down and breaking bread with one another. But that is going to be much harder if many restaurants go out of business. A survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business {CFIB} found that one in four hospitality businesses is facing a serious risk of closing. That would be a profound loss for our society. not to mention our palates. Thankfully. the restaurant industry has also been innovating. There was a time when anyone ordering in was limited to pizza or Chinese. but thanks to the numerous onIine food delivery services operating in this country. everything from hamburgers to fine dining is now a click away. offering pand emic-weary Canadians a chance to sample a wide variety of international cuisines from the safety and comfort of their own homes. Restaurants are struggling and they need our help. And so do local retailers. many of which are also hanging by a thread. and are in for some challenging times now that the holiday shopping season has passed and health restrictions are increasing. Uke resta urants. retailers also took a big hit in the spring. but the hard ships were not shared by all. Grocery stores have had a banner year. with year-over- year sales increasing TI .5 per cent in the rst ID months of ZDZIEI. E-com merce sales doubled in the second quarter and Amazon was well positioned to capture the market. with the company reponing net revenues of US$63 billion {83 billion] in the third quarter. com pared with US$11 billion a year earlier. The same is not true for many small businesses. which used to rely on foot trafc. rather than online sales. According to the CFIB. one in seven retailers is at risk of going out of business. And in Ontario. a third of independent businesses say they may not survive the current loc kdown. like other industries. small retailers have been innovating. Between March and November. 1 52.000 small businesses started selling their wares onlin e. but many are struggling to make money that way. Yet Canadians can help out by using sites like Not Am azon or even Google Maps to find local merchants that have a web presence. Many on the left have taken this op ponunity to attack large online retailers and big box sto res. but the truth is that their ability to maintain inventory and scale-up shipping was crucial in the first wave. and will continue to offer a lifeline to many Canadians in the second. However. com petition is essential to the pro per functioning of a market economy and we cannot afford to let the many small businesses that have served our oommu nities for years go under. nor can we afford to lose all the jobs they provide. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ordering from Walm art or ooo king at home. but we hope Canadians will also place orders with local restaurants and retailers. so they will be around to provide us with the goods we need and the camaraderie we crave when this pandemic passes
