The Orleans Star Apr. 30, 2020

A SAFE SOURCE FOR HEALTHY MEALS

www.supperworks.com 15 Capella Court, Nepean • 613-695-5151

April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

Next edition May 14

2003 St. Joseph Blvd., Orléans • 613-845-0842

L’édition de cette semaine à l’intérieur...

Local business owners in fight for survival

Navan resident Tracey Schyber stands beside the thank you sign her 13-year-old daughter Tracey made in appreciation of the work being done by Canada’s health care workers. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

The TheOrléans Orléans Restaurant Restaurant Guide Guide

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star It’s been more than a month since the provincial government declared a state of emergency against the COVID-19 virus, forcing many businesses to close their doors indefinitely. And while the recent unveiling of the Ontario-Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program (OCECRA) has given many business owners some much-needed breathing room, they will still have difficulty making ends meet should the shutdown stretch from weeks into months.

Some businesses will have a harder time making ends meet than others. Those businesses that are especially vulnerable include fitness centres, dance schools, spas, catering companies, travel agencies and restaurants that aren’t able to offer take-out or delivery during the pandemic. Because of physical distancing requirements they could be closed for months.

That prognosis is causing many business

Your window to to the best restaurants Your window tothe the best restaurants Your window best restaurants in Orléans with– links to links their websites, ininOrléans with links to their websites, Orléans – with to their menuand pages and Facebook, websites and Facebook pages, menu pages Facebook pages as well as maps of their locations. well maps their locations. as as well as as maps of of their locations.

www.orleansstar.ca/restaurantguide www.orleansstar.ca/restaurantguide www.orleansstar.ca/Restaurant_Guide

owners a lot of sleepness nights. Owners like Michael Willems who opened a photo studio in Place d’Orléans last August.

Willems was still in the process of getting established when the province ordered all nonessential businesses to close on March 25.

His only source of income was shut down overnight. Although he’s receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit of $2,000 a month, it barely covers the rent for his accommodations.

Although the OCECRA will help cover his commercial rent, he must still come up with 25 per cent as called for under the program on top of all his other financial commitments.

“The business is closed, it’s dead, it’s gone until this is over and I still have overhead for hydro and for the Internet plus I still have my own personal expenses like rent and my car payment, insurance... all that easily adds up to over $2,000 before I eat,” says Willems who CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Orléans-Cumberland Resource Centre sees slight uptick in demand

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star It’s either the calm before the storm, or the calm before the storm that might never happen. Demand for emergency food supplies and calls for help from the OrléansCumberland Community Resource Centre have only increased slightly since the coronavirus changed everyone’s life late last month.

The food bank only saw 17 new individual requests for assistance in March. They normally average between 190 and 220 requests from families per month.

That low number of new requests in March may be due to the fact that local business closures and layoffs didn’t start until the middle of the month, or because many of the people affected are reluctant to reach out to the food bank for the first time.

Food bank coordinator Nicole Perras says she is expecting to see an increase in demand for the month of April, once the numbers are added up, and an even

greater increase in May. “This is a pandemic. It’s a crisis and finances have been affected across the board, but this month we will have a lot more for sure,” says Perras.

“Unfortunately, there is still a stigma around using food banks. People who should be using the food bank are not calling, but this is a crisis. There’s no judgement when they call. They just have to leave their name and phone number and we will call them back.”

The coronavirus has forced the food bank to alter its procedures in order to maintain proper physical distancing.

The people no longer have to come into the food bank to pick out their food.

Instead, those in need of emergency food supplies must call the food bank and make an appointment to pick up their food at the door. The only information the food bank requires is the name and ages of all the family members, the client’s phone number and their address. No financial

records or information is necessary.

Volunteers with the food bank then assemble the food based on the information provided. When the client arrives at the resource centre, they must check in at the reception desk and the food is brought out to them in a shopping cart.

It is the client’s responsibility to take the food out to their car and return the cart to the reception area.

As for food supplies, Perras says the food bank has more than enough to meet the needs of the community.

“We are so fortunate to have a generous community in Orléans, so right now we are able to meet the needs,” says Perras, who is also immensely thankful for the volunteers who have continued working at the food bank during the crisis.

To make an appointment with the food bank, you simply need to call 613-8304357, ext. 158 and leave your name and number.

Beside the food bank, the Resource

Centre has also seen a small uptick in phone calls from local residents dealing with heightened levels of anxiety that’s a fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

“We haven’t seen a lot of calls specific to the coronavirus, but we have been getting a lot of calls for side effects for things like income tax being delayed and stuff like that,” says intake worker Tracy Pressé.

“I think it’s because a lot of people are focusing on their children right now because there’s no school and they’re home, or they think that we are so busy with things because of the virus that they don’t want to feel like they are being a burden.”

A lot of people who have called the Resource Centre are just looking for someone to talk to.

“They’re looking for someone to tell them that they can get through this and that they will survive,” says Pressé.

The Resource Centre intake line is 613830-4357. The youth counselor line is 613-830-4357.

Owners struggle to keep businesses afloat while paying the bills

2 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

Continued from page 1 doesn’t have a lot in reserves.

“I’m grateful to the government for the $2,000, but it doesn’t come close to paying all the bills. I’m reducing every expense.

What else is there to do?” Willems asks rhetorically. “All I can do is pray that this is over soon and when it is, the people will start coming back to the mall, but who knows? I think malls will be among the last things to open up.”

The Canadian government has made loans available to businesses amounting to $40,000, but Willems doesn’t qualify because one of the thresholds is having a payroll of at least $20,000 in 2019 and he wasn’t open long enough to meet that threshold.

Although he’s grateful for the $2,000 a month he and other Canadians are getting from the federal government as well as the help he’s getting on his commercial rent, Willems is worried about what might happen when the help is no longer there, “We know it’s going to run out some time and then what,” Willems asks. “Only God knows and then God help us.”

In order to keep his sanity, Willems has been taking a self-portrait every day since he was forced to close his studio. You can find the series at www.speedlighter.ca.

Doug Feltmate is the co-owner of StMartha’s Brasserie Orléans, which has been closed since the province first told restaurants to end their dine-in service or switch to a take-out and delivery model on March 15.

The owners are fortunate in that they don’t have any debt to worry about.

Feltmate’s biggest concern is for the 15 employees they had to lay off, some of whom were using their earnings to help pay for their tuition.

On the expense side, they have been able to work out an arrangement with the property owner, their bank and their insurance provider. The only folks who haven’t been willing to work with them so far is the hydro and gas companies.

Even with all the lights turned off and hydro consumption at a minimum, it still costs them about $15,000 a month to mothball the business.

“We’re probably safe for the next 6o days,” says Feltmate. “Beyond that, there’s a good chance that we don’t make it out the other end, and we’re in excellent shape compared to most because we don’t have any debt. The poor guys who are out there with a lot of debt, how are they going to pay that back, even if it’s deferred, with the types of profit margins you have in the industry and we’re just coming off two bad months in January and February. So it’s not just March and April. It’s January, February, March and April.”

Large businesses are not immune to the impact of the province-wide shutdown either. TMSI Sports Management owns four air-supported domes and four golf courses in the Ottawa area including the Superdome at the Hornet’s Nest in Blackburn Hamlet.

Just like the smaller businesses that were forced to close, their revenue has been reduced to zero, however, they still have bills to pay – big ones.

TMSI is the second largest consumer of

Michael Willems self portrait “Day 26 What Now” hydro in the sports and recreation industry in Ottawa right after Air Canada Place. The average monthly bill is $10,000 to $15,000 per facility per month.

“That’s over $100,000 per month whether were open for business or not,” says McCorristan. “Fortunately, Ontario Hydro have been rock stars in allowing us to pay the bill when we can. Our bank has been the same way. In fact, they called us. But our insurance company has been silent. They don’t even have the decency to call us back and we pay close to $400,000 a year in premiums. I tell you, when this is over something has to change.”

Stories of the insurance industry failing to help out businesses by at least deferring premium payments have been

the rule rather than the exception. A lot of businesses have something called Business Interruption Insurance, but it doesn’t apply during the pandemic because it only kicks in if the interruption was the result of physical damage.

“I tell you, the level of greed and the lack of any sort of empathy or understanding on the part of some of the insurance companies is shameful,” says McCorristan.

The decision to close non-essential businesses and limit restaurants to take-out and delivery only has impacted hundreds of businesses across the city – over 100 in Orléans alone – whether or not they will survive the pandemic will depend on how soon they will be able to reopen, even if it’s on a limited basis.

Keeping Our Distance Is Bringing Us Together

It’s a challenging time for all of us.

When the time arrives, we’ll be re-opening our doors and welcoming new homeowners to discover our wonderful community.

Until then, stay safe, follow government guidelines and respect your neighbours.

At Cardinal Creek Village, community comes first.

April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23 • 3

Sales Centre and Model Homes closed until further notice. Visit us online at tamarackhomes.com

4 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

Dereliction of duty As I write this editorial, 573 elderly residents have died in Ontario after contracting the COVID-19 virus in long-term care facilities.

Thirty-one of those residents have died in Ottawa.

The sad truth is that most of those deaths could have been prevented. The provincial government’s failure to protect the most vulnerable residents among us amounts to nothing less than a grievous dereliction of duty. While the public health officials and the politicians will say they were caught off guard by the impact the virus has had on seniors homes, that’s B.S. pure and simple.

The canary in the coal mine event occurred at the Life Care Centre nursing home in Washington state where four residents had died from the virus by February 29. By March 14, 20 more residents had succumbed to the virus. It’s unfathomable to think that public health officials on this side of the border were unaware of what was happening in Washington. A week later, an outbreak was declared at the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon. The first two deaths at the facility occurred on March 27, the same week the first two cases of the coronavirus were reported at the Promenade retirement home in Orléans.

Ontario didn’t impose a non-essential visitor ban until March 21 and even then it was for long-term and chronic care homes. While some private retirement homes followed suit, some didn’t.

It wasn’t that the homes were caught off guard, they were unprepared. Most had no personal protective equipment, which is critical to prevent staff who maybe asymptomatic from spreading the virus to the residents. Worse still was the reluctance of public health officials to test residents and especially staff members. They didn’t relent to the public pressure until last week, nearly a month after the first outbreak occurred in Bobcaygeon.

The deaths border on criminal negligence. A full inquiry needs to be held and those responsible need to be held accountable starting with the Minister of Health and the chief medical officer of health.

The first thing the inquiry should look at is why successive provincial governments ignored the findings and recommendations of the SARS inquiry held in 2003 which among other things recommended that “a two-month stockpile of personal protective equipment, including masks, gloves, gowns, eye protection and other clinical supplies should be available for rapid distribution through a central distribution system” should another SARS-like event happen.

Some family members of those who have died aren’t waiting for an inquiry, they’ve already started class action lawsuits. A Québec man has already filed a suit against the owners of the residence where his 94-year-old mother lived before she contracted the virus and died. The suit also names the regional health authority responsible for the Ste-Dorothée long-term care home where 69 residents have died. While it’s the first class action suit in Canada tied to the deaths of long-term care residents, it most definitely won’t be the last.

– Fred Sherwin, editor

Fredrick C. Sherwin, Editor & Publisher fsherwin@orleansstar.ca The Orléans Star is a bi-weekly publication distributed to 44,000 residences in Blackburn Hamlet, Orléans and Navan. The newspaper is locally owned and operated by Sherwin Publishing Inc., 745 Farmbrook Cres., Orléans, ON. Inquiries and delivery issues should be sent to info@orleansstar.ca.

By staying connected, we will get through this together Canadians together! As we continue through I want to recognize the diligence of our resithis pandemic united together as a community, I dents in following the advice of our Public Health know that you will all join me in expressing our officials. For those who can, please continue to sadness and shock following the senseless acts of stay home. Wash your hands often, don’t go out violence committed this past unless necessary, and continweek in Nova Scotia. ue to practice physical disOur thoughts are with the tancing. families and loved ones of Signs are showing that those taken from us, as well these efforts are working – our local members of the now is the time to double RCMP, who are mourning the down on these efforts in the loss of one of their own. We interest of keeping everyone Marie-France Lalonde will be there to support them safe. in their grief, as they begin to heal from this unEvery Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., I invite you to speakable tragedy. make some noise in support and appreciation for Cheers to all volunteers in Orléans! Last week, our health professionals, first responders, and esas Canadians, we celebrated National Volunteer sential workers. They are doing a tremendous job Week. I want to convey my appreciation to those – let’s remind them that they are not alone! We within our community who dedicated countless are all in this together. hours towards helping others.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join Whether you have given your time to local food Stephen Blais, Matt Luloff, Dr. Vera Etches and I banks, delivered food to our seniors, donated to last Thursday on our Covid-19 Virtual Teletown local organizations, brought food to our workers Hall. We each sincerely appreciated the chance on the front lines, our community owes you a debt to hear what matters most to you, and how can of gratitude. we work to help you better through these difficult Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! times.

• • • Please check regularly for federal updates at I would like to wish a very happy Ramadan to www.canada.ca/covid19. all those who are celebrating. May this month be If you have any concerns or questions please filled with joy, blessings, and generosity towards feel free to call our office 613-834-1800, or email others. Ramadan Mubarak!

Marie-France.lalonde@parl.gc.ca.

Commons Corner

If there’s a will to begin the long path to normal, there’s a way Hopefully, by the time you read this column the Ontario government will have finally released a road map to begin opening up the economy in this province.

New Brunswick and Saskatchewan released their respective plans last week and Québec is expected to unveil its plan this week.

All of the plans have one thing in common: the requirement to maintain physical distancing policies and protocols to ensure the proper precautions are taken by those businesses that open up first. In other words, they are all based on common sense.

If you maintain physical distancing, wash your hands, use hand sanitåizer or wear disposable gloves at all times when entering or leaving your car, or another location including your own home, it’s virtually impossible to contract the virus.

You also won’t have a huge resurgence in the number of new cases. If we all take the proper precautions, or at least 95% of us do, you will not have a huge second wave or resurgence. You will have some new cases because you will always have some idiots who will not follow the proper precautions.

The fear of a second wave is based on opening everything up without any conditions and that is simply never going to happen.

If you combine the aforementioned with

Up Front Fred Sherwin an effective communication campaign, you will continue to flatten the curve.

In the meantime, the government needs to ramp up our ability to test health care workers, social care facility residents and staff, and other members of the high-risk community. We also need to increase the production of N95 masks exponentially You don’t need mass testing to open things up if 95% of the population is taking the proper precautions. And that can’t happen without a robust education campaign beyond “wash your hands and stay home” and a massive increase in the production of face masks which should have started yesterday.

Several countries in Europe have already begun to reopen their economies but in a phased-in, methodical manner.

They include Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Sweden never fully closed its economy. It’s time Canada followed suit.

The province seems to have finally gotten a handle on the situation facing retirement homes. They should now turn their focus to grocery stores and pharmacies, neither of which have any formal protocols in place for shoppers beyond limiting the number of customers who are in the store at any one time. A quick tour of six grocery and produce stores in Orléans on the weekend was both eye-opening and head-scratching.

In every case, precautionary measures like the wearing of face masks and disposable gloves were optional. Several of the stores had hand sanitizer available at the entrance but there was no signage informing customers it was there.

A visual survey of the customers inside the stores revealed that less than 50 per cent wore at least one form of protection, either a face mask, or disposable gloves, or both. More than half wore nothing and a majority of the employees in the store weren’t wearing anything either, which is scarier still. Unless the store has an automatic COVID-19 antigen test they can use on every employee, there is no way to tell if they are asymptomatic or not.

The thought that the province has yet to establish a protocol for grocery stores and pharmacies this far into the pandemic is beyond comprehension.

But back to reopening the province’s economy. Leaving businesses closed and people locked in their homes indefinitely is just not sustainable. And while most Canadians have complied with the need for social distancing and sheltering in place, they are beginning to get restless.

As the weather warms up people are going to want to get outside. During a quick drive along the Rideau Canal on Saturday I saw hundreds of people out and about on what was a beautiful day. And the numbers are only going to grow.

At some point in time, we are going to have to do our part beyond staying home and washing our hands every five minutes. We are going to have to shoulder the responsibility of taking the proper precautions when we go shopping, or playing golf or anything else that’s on the list of activities that will be reopened.

As for those people who don’t want to shoulder the same responsibility as the rest of us and flout what have become the new social norms, they should be fined as should any business to follow the proper reopening protocols.

The message is simple. If you don’t want to catch the coronavirus and you don’t want to see a spike in new cases take the proper precautions and you won’t have anything to worry about.

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April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23 • 5

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the showroom will be closed until further notice.

COMMUNITY BRIEFS

We all need to do our part – stay home, stay healthy and stay safe Every Friday morning, I host a Zoom so hard to keep us safe and as healthy as call with the Gloucester 50+ Seniors possible.

Centre. On April 24th, we had MPP As we’re dealing with the COVID-19 Lucille Collard join us, in addition to Brent crisis, unfortunately (or fortunately?), I Moloughney, Associate Medical Officer of am not able to go about cutting ribbons Health with Ottawa Public or kissing babies, but I Health. Dr. Moloughney was able to lend a hand to provided us with some deliver food! great information about With the help of Phil COVID19 initiatives in Patel from Beacon Hillplace with OPH and exCyrville’s own Firehouse plained a bit more about Subs; we brought over Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward 11 how the virus ‘works’. subs and soft drinks to We’ll be meeting up this coming Friday the amazing Emily Murphy Non-Profit for another coffee chat and we’ll invite Housing Corporation. They provide another member from the community to affordable housing and housing support be able to connect with you. It has been services in a community setting for single amazing to see the number of participants parents who choose to live alone w/their growing every week! If you would like to children. join this week’s call, you can email Sharon Through difficult times like these, it’s Oatway: soatway@storm.ca. We’ll be important to remember everyone, and I meeting on Friday, May 1 at 10 a.m. was humbled to be able to help out in this Beacon Hill-Cyrville resident AJ capacity. Thanks to Pam Cripps for helping Gallant and a group of fellow motorbike to coordinate the lunchtime delivery. enthusiasts did another drive-by at the As always, I am providing the latest Montfort Hospital on Saturday April 25th information on my website and posting to thank the staff there for all their hard daily vlogs to make sure that everyone work during the crisis. Proper physical can stay in the loop. If you would like to distancing protocols were respected at all receive my newsletters, which I send out points of the event. Thanks to AJ for the 2-3 times a week, please sign up on my kind gesture for those who are working website www.timtierneyottawa.ca

Tim Tierney

Denis Charbonneau from the District 7 Rural Firefighters Association and Orléans-Cumberland food bank coordinator Nicole Perras practice their social distancing during a cheque presentation ceremony on April 24. The funds were donated by the association’s members at fire stations in Cumberland, Navan, Vars and on Charlemagne Boulevard from their association dues. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

Orléans Legion still $5,000 short of GoFundMe target

6 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

ORLÉANS –The Orléans Legion still needs $5,000 in donations to reach its GoFundMe campaign targeted amount of $25,000. Like many other businesses in Ontario, the Legion was forced to close it’s doors on March 17 under the provincial state of emergency. As a result, the executive had to lay off the entire staff. As a not-for-profit organization, the Legion depends solely on revenue from bar sales, hall rentals and kitchen sales to pay for operating expenses. With no end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, the Legion launched a GoFundMe campaign on April 8 to raise the necessary funds to help pay the bills. Even after laying off the staff and reducing utility usage to a bare minimum, the Legion still faces costs of approximately $6,000/month. Any money left after meeting their immediate needs will be given to the local food bank. Donation can be made at www.gofundme.com/f/ keep- the-branch-alive.

Madonna nursing home outbreak leaves 14 dead; Résidence St-Louis sees surge in COVID-19 cases ORLÉANS – The COVID-19 virus claimed nine more lives at the Madonna nursing home on St. Joseph Blvd. last week, bringing the death toll at the facility to 14. Thirty-eight residents, including the 14 who have passed away, have tested positive for the virus at the Madonna nursing home along with 18 staff members.

Meanwhile, five residents and two staff members at the Résidence St. Louis in Convent Glen also tested positive for the virus last week. That brings the total number of positive cases in senior care facilities in Orléans to 76, including 13 residents and staff members at the Promenade - Alavida Lifestyles residence where three residents have succumbed to the virus. Last Wednesday, the Ontario government issued an ordered to the province’s public health units to test every resident and staff member at a long-term care facility in the province.

Up-to-date COVID-19 information available through variety of sources Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for everyday heroes that the Award has there have been stories of loss and of received to date; I look forward to reading struggle, but there have been countless many more. I encourage you to nominate more stories of hope and of individuals, them as a Hero of Innes at: www. businesses, and groups LauraDudas.ca/heroeswho have made a real nomination/. difference and impact on Supporting our Local the community.

Businesses In recognition of Now, more than ever, these extraordinary acts we need to support our of generosity, I have local businesses. To that Innes Ward 2 launched the Heroes of end, I have posted a list Innes Award. This Award recognizes those of local businesses that are still open and who have gone above and beyond to help ways to support them at www.LauraDudas. others during this difficult time, and reflect ca/support-local-businesses/. on the positive stories during this tragic Additionally, as all levels of governsituation. ment have been working to deliver Since the launch of the Award a much-needed support to businesses and short time ago, I have been floored by organizations, I have also developed an the outpouring of nominations sharing online business resource section on my inspiring acts of kindness and selflessness, website to help connect with many of such as the story of a resident who has these programs. Visit: LauraDudas.ca/ been conducting senior wellness checks in business-resources-main/. his neighbourhood. Or the young grocery These past few weeks have been a store clerk who has continually gone into challenge for all of us, however it is only work with a smile and a joke to bring a by working together as a community, smile to her customers’ faces. helping and supporting each other that we These are just two of the nominations will all get through this – #inthistogether.

Laura Dudas

City website encourages residents to support local businesses As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread at a very rapid pace, I am urging that everyone either practice physical distancing or self-isolate if applicable. All of our efforts are needed as a community. The actions you take will affect not only you, but your loved ones and the most vulnerable people in our community. By acting now, you may be saving lives – the life of a family member, a neighbour, a friend or a coworker.

The City of Ottawa is here to help. Our community partners are working together through the City’s Human Needs Task Force for those requiring assistance. The task force is receiving, assessing and triaging all social and human needs inquiries, while mobilizing and supporting community organizations to address urgent community needs. The Human Needs Task

Jim Watson Guest column Force lines up with City resources, external partners, existing funding and new funding to community needs.

Additionally, in partnership with it’s Economic Partners Taskforce, the City of Ottawa launched the first phase of an online promotional campaign to help local businesses during these challenging times.

For more information visit www.ottawa.ca/ buylocal The campaign encourages residents to

support their favourite small businesses by taking immediate and concrete steps now: • Buy from local businesses online.

• Purchase gift cards from local businesses to use later.

• Order delivery or takeout from area restaurants.

• Send local businesses messages of support on social media.

These actions will help local shops, restaurants and services by providing them with critical income during this challenging period.

Finally, the City has established a 2020 Interim Property Tax Hardship Deferral Program for qualifying residents, as well as businesses. The program extends both the interim property tax deadline (April 15) and the final property tax deadline (June 18) to Friday, October 30, 2020.

More information on financial and social supports is available on Ottawa.ca.

This is a difficult time for everyone.

I’d like to thank you for your cooperation with physical distancing from others and for helping your fellow residents in need.

Remember to check in with others by phone or video chat. Be kind. Support your neighbours if you can. Check in with yourself. It’s okay not to be okay. Reach out to the Distress Centre of Ottawa to connect with someone at 613-238-3311 if you need help or are having trouble coping.

Supporting our neighbours is essential for us to make it through this pandemic.

We’re all in this together.

For more information on COVID-19, please visit: www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/ Coronavirus.

COVID-19 pandemic the final straw for troubled industry Much has been written and many of the industry publications have been flooded with stories as to how the COVID 19 pandemic is about to kill restaurants by the hundreds and perhaps thousands.

All businesses face what has been referred to as a pressure test at some time or another, but no one expected this to hit the industry as hard as it appears to be doing so. We just don’t know the timeline for this, but we do know that this will be the ultimate pressure test to the restaurant business.

How did restaurants get to such a fragile point ? Perhaps a little background and history is in order.

Over the last 15 to 20 years, margins in the restaurant industry have diminished substantially. To compare, according to Forbes and Sageworks, margins for accounting firms net 19.6 per cent, dentists 15.4 per cent, car rental 15.8 per cent professional and legal services come in around 15.4 per cent, various consulting services 15 to 25 per cent. Why are restau-

Doug Feltmate Guest column rant margins between three and nine per cent?

These slim margins means that restaurants operate with very limited reserve capacity. So when a crisis hits, such as the one we now find ourselves in, many face an extremely difficult time and will be challenged to stay in business. Some of the smaller and medium size restaurants don’t have enough to cover a full month’s expenses if they have no revenue coming in.

Given this fact, one wonders how the margins and profitability get to the point we many restaurants now finds themselves in. Well, it starts with the fact that the industry in Canada started this when it began

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their assumptions are off. The consumer needs to know how restaurant margins work so they can determine the value proposition of the service they are paying for.

Simply put, the net profit margin is what’s left of sales revenue after subtracting all expenses to get the food to your table.

This includes food cost and cost of goods, labour costs and all the overhead needed to provide the service. It seems pretty straightforward at first, but there are a lot of costs that you might not consider when you sit down and have that meal.

Food cost obviously includes all the ingredients but it also includes food waste, meals sent back, packaging for leftovers etc. Overhead costs can be defined by fixed or variable costs like rent, utilities, insurance, Internet, maintenance, credit card services, etc., but there are also many things that wouldn’t initially come to mind.

Here is a sample income statement with actual numbers that cover what costs are incurred based on a $100 sample sales.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23 • 7

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competing on pricing. It was not always this way. Net margins used to be double and triple what they are today.

For the last 20 years as the influx of the conglomerate-owned chain restaurants started to pop on the scene and the industry’s rapid expansion responded by deciding to increase gross revenues with price wars. Those multi-unit chains led those price wars and have, as a result, eroded margins, all the while skewing our perception of what food should actually cost.

Restaurants started pricing menus based on market pressures instead of the actual operating cost on the business. The larger problem is that the consumer does not know what they should be paying for their meal if they continue to expect someone to buy the food, prepare the food, cook the food, clean up after them and provide a heated and air conditioned place to eat it in.

That brings me to the public’s lack of understanding or appreciation of what the true cost of running a restaurant is. The consumer just doesn’t know and most of

HELP REDUCE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 TAKE STEPS TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) :

Follow the advice of your local public health authority.

Try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth.

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Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

Cough and sneeze into your sleeve and not your hands.

Stay home as much as possible and if you need to leave the house practice physical distancing (approximately 2 m).

IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS

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Isolate at home to avoid spreading illness to others.

Avoid visits with older adults, or those with medical conditions.

They are at higher risk of developing serious illness.

Call ahead before you visit a health care professional or call your local public health authority.

If your symptoms get worse, contact your health care provider or public health authority right away and follow their instructions.

FEVER (greater or equal to 38 °C)

8 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

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April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23 • 9

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10 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

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Petrie Island Canada Day festivities officially cancelled

By Harley Bloom Special to the Orléans Star

Kiwanis Club redirects efforts to Covid-19 impact

As the realities of Covid-19 set in for kids around the Capital, your local Kiwanis chapter is stepping up in a big way.

Kiwanis East Ottawa Est is well known in Orléans for large-scale entertainment events like O Canada Orléans on Petrie Island and sKreamers, but their yearround work helping children in need through their various programs serves a role of compassion and support in the community.

This Club’s highest-attended event cannot be postponed. O Canada Orléans, which draws tens of thousands of attendees from across eastern Ottawa, is no longer viable. The event takes takes considerable planning and financial resources, and relies on the contributions of local businesses and donors.

“We fully appreciate that O Canada Orléans is no longer feasible, given the planning horizon we need to consider,” explains O Canada Orléans chairperson Zybina Richards.

Kiwanis is shifting gears from ‘business as usual’ to address new and emerging challenges brought on by the pandemic,

says Richards.

“At this time, we believe those funds can be better used to support critical needs in our community.”

One of those critical needs is Computers for Kids, a program where financially disadvantaged students will be provided Chromebooks and WIFI hotspots so they are equipped for remote online learning.

The Club, in coordination with other area chapters, are working with partner organizations and school boards to identify needs in short order.

“Computers for Kids gets equipment into the hands of students who may otherwise very quickly fall behind their classmates,” says Adam Polka, Director of Media Relations for Kiwanis East Ottawa Est. “But we also believe that this is the first in a series of programs we hope to champion. We have earmarked a sizable portion of our program’s budget towards helping kids through this major disruption.”

The Club is still in discovery mode around how and where their resources can have the greatest impact. “Our ears are to the ground, and we are prepared to

Kiwanis East Ottawa Est is stepping up its ‘Computers for Kids’ program which provides computers for disadvantaged youth so they can continue their studies online. PHOTO SUPPLIED respond to emergent needs,” says Polka.

“Our focus continues to be giving kids the opportunity to thrive, and we are well positioned to contribute to what society needs right now.”

Kiwanis East Ottawa Est plans on reviving Petrie Island Canada Day celebrations in 2021, and extends a sincere thank you to local businesses for their intent to support this year.

Restaurants need to improve profit margin post COVID-19 Continued from page 7

seven per cent.

Included is all kinds of things that most would not even consider; like who washes the windows ($50 a month), who cleans the aprons and towels ($147 a month), the dishwasher supply and service contract ($150 a month), calling in the grease trap pumper ($175 every two months), kitchen hood duct cleaning service and fire suppression system maintenance ($75 a month), the alarm system ($50 a month) etc. All these things have to happen and be paid for in order for you to come into the restaurant and sit down to enjoy a meal.

The normal restaurant operator really does do their due diligence and try to lower operating costs during all their waking hours, but let’s assume that that option is tapped out. We can’t lower the quality of food we buy, we can’t eliminate repairs and maintenance, we can’t cancel our insurance.

With recent the recent minimum wage increases in Ontario, the entire pay scale went up proportionately to the minimum wage increase resulting in about a 15 per cent increase in labour costs for the business.

Because of competition, menu pricing did not change to cover this major increase in costs to the industry. Many owners deal with the excess labour costs by working much longer hours so they don’t have to pay staff. That can only last so long before burn out takes place and they start having health issues.

The solution to the success of the restaurant’s future is going to have to be the consumer paying for what they want.

To compare, if that same sale was $108 for the same product, the net profit would be closer to 15 per cent of sales and allow the business some form of reserve capacity to wait out a crisis like the one we’re having now. We may even have to make it greater as this crisis is identifying the real value of these hard working people in the restaurant industry. We should be following the European business model and not the American business model which endorses a low minimum wage as the restaurant’s foundation cost.

What does that mean to the consumer? That pint of draft beer would cost $8.50 instead of $7.50; that pizza would be $19 instead of $17. I think you get

the picture.

It’s not a huge price to pay for the sustainability of a business sector that appears to be your favourite pastime and service.

The future of the restaurant business in Orléans is critical because eating is literally one of our favourite things, but are we willing to pay for it? It seems that if there’s one industry that should be profitable, it’s restaurants. It is now a big part of our social fabric. What would you pay to save it?

Hopefully we will learn something beneficial as we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully we will learn the value of the things we eat, the value of the things we do and the value of our friends and business neighbours.

(Doug Feltmate is a board member of the Heart of Orléans BIA, a board member of the Capital 2020 Task Force, a restaurant owner in the BIA (St. Martha’s Brasserie) and has been a food service and hospitality consultant for over 40 years, leading projects in 35 countries. He has been a resident of Orléans for over 25 years and currently lives in Fallingbrook with his wife Lisa and two daughters, who are both St. Pete’s students.)

April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23 • 11

Combined, food and beverage costs and incidental expenses including linen and uniforms, cleaning supplies, paper supplies, smallwares, menus, and Point of Sale system fees, account for 36.9 per cent of the $100 or $36.90.

Next are your payroll expenses that include wages and salaries; source deductions including EI, CPP, WSIB, EHT and employee espenses. This totals 38.1 per cent of the $100 or $38.10 General and Administrative expenses include Rent ($8.00); Hydro and Gas ($2.35); Credit Card fees ($2.18); Repair & Maintenance ($1.64); Insurance ($0.84); Accounting & Legal fees ($0.82); Advertising & Promotions ($0.64); Professional and Consulting fees ($0.50); Telephone bill ($0.46); Interest & Bank Charges ($0.36); Office Supplies ($0.23); Business Fees & Licenses ($0.10); Web and Internet ($0.04); Licenses & Permits ($0.04); Postage ($0.03); Travel ($0.02). The total accounts for 18.25 per cent of the $100, or $18.25.

When added together, the expenses make up $93.25 of the initial $100. That leaves a net profit of $6.75 or just under

Ottawa golf courses caught in coronavirus limbo

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star At this time of year, most golfers would normally be pulling their clubs out of storage, cleaning them off and heading to the local driving range in excited anticipation of the opening of the golf season.

Not so this year. Thanks to the COVID -19 pandemic, driving ranges and golf courses have been closed across Canada after being deemed a non-essential service in nine of the 10 provinces.

The lone exception is in British Columbia where the provincial government has left the decision-making up to the regional health units. What has ensued is the creation of a set of protocols that were developed in consultation with the golf course owners and the Professional Golfers Association of B.C. The precautions that are being taken include: - all club houses and restaurants remain closed; - tee times are booked and paid for online; - golfers must check in at a kiosk outside the main clubhouse; - all ball-washers and rakes have been removed from the courses and flag sticks must remain in the hole; - some courses have prohibited the use of carts so golfers can maintain social

distancing and others have placed form inserts in the holes so that the golfers don’t have to try and fish their ball out of the hole after dropping a putt.

Traditional forms of celebration such as high-fiving after making a particularly difficult shot is frowned upon, as is the tradition of shaking hands at the end of the round.

Local golf courses say they plan to implement many of the same protocols if they ever get the chance. The Ontario government has so far been silent on the issue of opening golf courses to the public despite the best lobbying efforts of the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association and the National Golf Course Owners Association.

Camelot Golf and Country Club CEO Greg Richardson echoes the sentiment of most golf course owners and golfers in general when asked why golf courses should be high on the list of businesses that should be allowed to reopen.

“Golfing is one of the easiest pasttimes during which you can maintain social distancing,” says Richardson. “It’s also a great way to relax and it’s a great way to be physically active.”

TMSI Sports Management president Darin McCorristan says they are ready to open their three Ottawa-area golf courses as soon as the province gives the word.

The Camelot Golf Club is hoping to be included among the list of businesses that will be able to reopen sometime in May. STAFF PHOTO “Our courses are all in excellent condition and we’re ready to implement all the measures to keep everyone safe,” says McCorristan whose company owns the eQuinelle Golf Course in Kemptville and Amberwood Golf & Country Club in Stittsville. They also own the Vieux Moulins Golf Club in Gatineau.

TMSI and Camelot have both kept on skeleton crews to maintain their courses, but they’ve had to lay off dozens of fulltime employees and are holding back on hiring any seasonal workers.

Even if the golf courses are allowed to open, they still stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in tournament revenue and hall rentals. Most of the tournaments that were planned for June have already been canceled, while others planned for July will likely follow suit.

If there is a ray of hope for local golfers, it’s the example being set in B.C. and the recent news that the Sask. provincial government has listed golf courses in the first step of a five-phase plan to reopen the province beginning on May 15.

12 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23

Orléans blind, deaf athlete trying to keep busy

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star Trying to stay active while self-isolating is difficult for your average person. For athletes who normally split their time between dry-land training and working out in the gym, it is especially difficult, even more so when your gym has been closed indefinitely.

Orléans blind, deaf athlete Kevin Frost has been making do the best he can with daily workouts in his basement that include a 50-minute ride on his bike trainer.

He also goes for walks ever day with his service dog Louis.

“I workout five days a week for about an hour and a half each day. I start with 10 minutes of stretching, followed by about 20 minutes working on my core and then 50 minutes on the bike and then my cool down,” says Frost.

The daily exercise routine helps keep him in shape both physically and mentally.

“It’s important to stay active physically, but it’s equally important to stay active mentally. I call it my therapy session.

It’s a sanity thing,” says Frost. “When I work out I’m usually watching the sports

channel. It’s a nice escape from all the news about the COVID virus.”

It’s been nearly six weeks since the Ontario government listed gyms and fitness centres among those businesses that had to close indefinitely and although he misses working out in the gym, he misses the human interaction even more.

“You really don’t realize how much you’ll miss the social aspect of working out in a gym it until it’s gone,” says Frost.

“This self-isolation thing is tough.”

As for those people who are starting to get cabin fever or have been lulled into a state of lethargy, Frost recommends finding ways to get moving again.

“It’s easy to become negative with everything that’s going on, but life is what you make it. You can think everything is boring, or you can use it as motivation to get things done. It’s important to focus on the positive because as bad as things are, it could be a lot worse.”

After retiring from competitive speed skating this past winter, this was the year Frost was planning to focus on his golf game. Unfortunately, golf courses and driving ranges are currently on the list of non-essential businesses in Ontario,

although there is talk that the province’s golf courses maybe among the first businesses to reopen under a strict set of guidelines.

Frost is hoping they will be open by the Victoria Day long weekend.

“It’s pretty easy to do physical distancing on a golf course, especially if you don’t have any golf carts,” says Frost who is still hoping to participate in the World Blind Golf Championships in South Africa in September. He’s also been invited to take part in the HANDA U.S. Blind Golf Championship which has been rescheduled for November in Arizona.

When he does, he will be playing with a custom-made set of clubs courtesy of Puma Golf which has agreed to be one of his sponsors.

“They were looking for a disabled golfer to be part of their roster and I’m the guy,” says Frost who also got clothing and new shoes as part of the deal.

The only thing left is for Frost to get back on the links. When he does he wants to be in the best shape possible.

For now he’s been practicing his putting on a section of artificial turf in his basement and he has been working on his

Kevin Frost takes his service dog Louis for a walk. STAFF PHOTO swing with a set of soft-impact balls.

“It keeps me busy, but it’s not the same as the real thing,” says Frost.

For that he will have to wait a few more weeks.

Local farmers roll with the punches during COVID-19 crisis

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star Despite all that he has on his hands, it’s amazing that Navan dairy farmer Anthony VanMunsteren is still able to keep his sense of humour.

Besides the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the agriculture industry, the VanMunsterens are responsible for more than 250 cows and young stock.

Along with the responsibility of the farm, Anthony takes care of his four children, all under the age of six, while his wife Lorraine goes to work each day as a nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Anthony’s cousin and partner Jesse VanMunsteren lives on the farm with his fiancée Sandrine. Thankfully, they can still work together as a family and self isolate. As a result, Sandrine is able to help out on the farm and care for the kids.

“She’s a huge help for sure, especially during the week when Lorraine’s at work,” says Anthony. “The two older kids spend a lot of time with me in the barn anf the younger kids will go with Sandrine or they’ll go with my mom. It all depends, and on the weekends we’re all together.”

While the coronaviris has not yet

impacted the dairy industry on a broad scale, there has been signs that have given reason for concern.

The consumption of bulk milk has been drastically reduced largely due to the closure of restaurants. Carton milk sales are also down after the schools were closed.

The sudden drop in demand led to the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) issuing an order for some farms in southern Ontario to dump several million litres of raw milk on April 6. On April 9, the DFO released a statement explaining that the need to dump milk was not expected to continue.

“The flow of milk and dairy products through the food supply chain is beginning to normalize, and the inventory situation at grocery stores is improving,” the statement read.

The encouraging news lasted just two weeks. On April 24, the marketing board cut the provincial milk quota by two per cent. The DFO operates as a cooperative.

So when the quota is adjusted, every dairy farmer in the province must adjust their production. Since milking cows can’t be turned off on on like a tap, there are only two ways to implement a two per cent reduction in your quota, sell to two per

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Anthony and Lorraine VanMunsteren (middle and right) have their hands full with their four children Thijs, 1, Ella, 2, Ambrose, 4, and Hollyn, 5, as Anthony’s cousin Jesse and Jesse’s fiancée Sandrine look on. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO cent of your cows (if you can) or dump two per cent of your milk.

The VanMunsterens are hoping to sell two of their cows, but they know it will be difficult in a market where everyone is in the same boat.

For now, the Van Munsterens are taking

things like everyone else in Canada – one day at a time.

“We don’t know. There are so many unknowns right now, we’re learning as we go,” says VanMunsteren.

“But we’re used to uncertainty,” he adds with a chuckle. “We’re farmers.”

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16 • April 30, 2020 • Volume 34, No. 23