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Over the past week, three small businesses have announced they&#8217;ll be closing shop on Halifax&#8217;s Quinpool Road.
The <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19/">COVID-19</a> pandemic has been a factor but there are also other economic elements at play, like the rising cost of commercial rent and eager developers interested in building up the street.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7551917/halifax-gardens-mural-quinpool-mcdonalds/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Haligonian calls to preserve mural at the Quinpool Road McDonald’s">
				Haligonian calls to preserve mural at the Quinpool Road McDonald’s			</a>
		
	
Lucky Penny Cafe is a favourite for many along Quinpool Road and one of three businesses that announced they will be closing. Clay Cafe Halifax and the Athens Restaurant are the other two.
Barb Kaill, owner of Luck Penny, says the business is at the end of its five-year commercial lease. She says the pandemic has played a big part in the decision to close, but it&#8217;s also made her look in a new direction business-wise.
&#8220;Currently with spacing and distancing it&#8217;s only possible to have a really small fraction of our normal seats,&#8221; said Kaill, who will officially close the cafe June 25.
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						alt="Click to play video: Nova Scotia’s top doctor provides details on provincial COVID-19 reopening plan"
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Along with an increase in rent and the ongoing uncertainty around the pandemic and provinces reopening plan, it&#8217;s led to a lot of unknowns around what the new normal will look like post-pandemic.
&#8220;There could be up to a five-year recovery period for the sector,&#8221; said Kaill. &#8220;It&#8217;s really scary and it makes it really hard to make any concrete plans for the future.&#8221;
		
			Read more:<a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7880993/small-businesses-n-s-covid-19-lockdown/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="N.S. small businesses frustrated with extended lockdown and lack of communication">
				N.S. small businesses frustrated with extended lockdown and lack of communication			</a>
		
	
Many small businesses are feeling that angst and question how soon the economy will rebound and whether the customer base will there when the province emerges from the pandemic.
&#8220;COVID has made things a little tougher this past year,&#8221; said Evangelos Panopalis, owner of Athens Restaurant, a longtime establishment that first opened on Barrington Street in 1982 and then moved to the north end on Quinpoool Road in 1996.
Panopalis says COVID-19 wasn&#8217;t the only reason they were closing its restaurant, as they&#8217;ve decided to sell to local development company Dexell and the Lawen Group of Properties. They plan to build a multi-residential and mixed-use development at 6234 Quinpool Rd., which is currently home to the McDonald&#8217;s and Fitness FX.
Over the past decade, Panopalis said he&#8217;s been approached by several developers looking to purchase his Athens Restaurant property and now was the right time. COVID made the decision easier, he added.
&#8220;Things were changing along Quinpool Road before the pandemic,&#8221; said Panopalis. &#8220;I always said if the right offer came in, I would have to consider it and I did.&#8221;
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The face of Quinpool Road is changing, there are many development opportunities in the area with several construction projects underway or in the planning stages.
Although it&#8217;s painful to see local small businesses close their doors, the new developments on the street signal future business opportunities, says Karla Nicholson, executive director of the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association.
&#8220;As sad as it is that these businesses are closing and I&#8217;m sure they wouldn&#8217;t if it weren&#8217;t for the pandemic, many people are coming to me looking for spaces on Quinpool Road,&#8221; said Nicholson.
Councillor Shawn Cleary who lives on Quinpool Road says he&#8217;s seeing a slow transformation on the street and says it will look much different in 10 years.
It&#8217;s a desirable location for business, said Cleary and has now been designated as a pedestrian-oriented main street. It caters to developments like the TED building that&#8217;s currently under construction by Facade Investment Ltd., and will feature a mix of commercial and residential uses.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6623130/halifax-willow-tree-complex-site-16-5m/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Site of proposed Willow Tree Complex in Halifax sold for $16.5 million">
				Site of proposed Willow Tree Complex in Halifax sold for $16.5 million			</a>
		
	
&#8220;You have pretty much everywhere in the urban core that kind of commercial on the main level and residences above that,&#8221; said Cleary. &#8220;We don&#8217;t want that in all our established residential neighbourhoods but on our main streets like Agricola, Gottingen, Quinpool, Robie, Spring Garden, Barrington &#8212; that&#8217;s the feel that we want those neighbourhoods to have.&#8221;
As for the Lucky Penny Coffee Co. Kaill says to expect a new online business announcement coming soon which will feature pop-up locations at local markets and subscription services.
Panopalis said Athens Restaurant has sold its property but they haven&#8217;t sold the business, hinting that they could be opening in a new location at some point down the road.

Over the past week, three small businesses in Halifax announced they’ll be closing on Quinpool Road and the COVID-19 pandemic has been a factor in all decisions.

Face of Quinpool Road changing as three Halifax businesses close shop

Flying Eze

Salmon Arm&#8217;s own Samosa Kid has hired the help of his friends and family to start his own business.
Armaan Dhaliwal and his helpers, Laura and Maico Braschuk, pack and fill orders for samosas that have been brought in from Vancouver every Wednesday to prepare for the busy week ahead.
&#8220;Our [samosas] are really good to have a snack,&#8221; said Dhaliwal.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/salmon-arm-boy-guinness-world-record-jenga" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Salmon Arm boy breaks 3rd Guinness World Record with 1,400 block Jenga tower" target="_blank">
				Salmon Arm boy breaks 3rd Guinness World Record with 1,400 block Jenga tower			</a>
		
	
Once the orders are packed, anyone in the area that has a hankering for a samosa and an order placed can come by their home to pick it up.
Dhaliwal says the recipe to their success is in the quality of their product.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/non-profit-okanagan-pets-seniors" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Non-profit helps Okanagan seniors, pets stay together" target="_blank">
				Non-profit helps Okanagan seniors, pets stay together			</a>
		
	
&#8220;People want to try new things and they are really good,&#8221; said Dhaliwal.
He has been so successful he is now making charitable donations to help those living in his community and abroad.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/kelowna-judo-athlete-2021-paralympic-games" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Kelowna judo athlete prepares for 2021 Paralympic Games qualifiers" target="_blank">
				Kelowna judo athlete prepares for 2021 Paralympic Games qualifiers			</a>
		
	
Dhaliwal says he had donated $3,800 to Khalsa Aid, an international non-government organization that helps provide humanitarian aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world.
He also donated $500 to the Shuswap Hospital Foundation in honour of his aunt.
&#8220;I also did a Mothers&#8217; Day giveaway for five moms in need,&#8221; said Dhaliwal, who is planning on helping five dads in need ahead of Fathers&#8217; Day this year.
By sharing a taste of his culture, Dhaliwal is able to start his own savings account while making a difference in his community. Orders are accepted through his<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesamosakid/" target="_blank"> Instagram</a> page or by text to 236-412-9145. His samosas are also sold at<a href="http://Moose Mulligans Fresh Food Market" target="_blank"> Moose Mulligans Fresh Food Market in Sicamous, B.C. </a>

“Our [samosas] are really good to have a snack.”

Lifestyle

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Charitable Kid

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Salmon Arm

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Small Business

Salmon Arm’s ‘Samosa Kid’ turns profit to charity with homemade snack

Alex Kratz has always wanted to continue tradition and work with his family in some capacity, but when the family&#8217;s home <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/tag/construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">construction</a> business started to go south, he decided to switch gears and salvage things by going down a more <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/tag/marijuana" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">budding</a> path.
“Kratz Homes was around for a long time, we had a good name in Regina,” Kratz said.
“It wasn&#8217;t necessarily my passion going forward, and it wasn&#8217;t necessarily what my dad wanted to do anymore either, so we were just looking for something new, something different,&#8221; he explained.
In 2018, Alex was inspired by the potential the <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/cannabis" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">cannabis</a> industry showed and decided to jump-start his own cannabis cultivation business from scratch.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4274870/regina-taking-different-approach-to-pot-licenses-compared-to-saskatoon/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Regina taking different approach to pot licences compared to Saskatoon" target="_blank">
				Regina taking different approach to pot licences compared to Saskatoon			</a>
		
	
&#8220;A couple of years ago, I read in the nation paper just about the opportunity about applying and we were kind of looking at a change anyway,” Kratz said.
“I brought the opportunity to my dad and we brought it to my grandpa and we went from there,” he said.
Now, after three years of lots of research and paperwork, the newly formed Western Cannabis family business is selling their product to stores all across Saskatchewan.
Kratz says their products are available in approximately 80 per cent of the cannabis stores in Regina and Saskatoon and 60 per cent across the province.
He goes on to say the family plans to expand to include more strains and a variety of products, such as pre-rolls. They also have plants dedicated to future research initiatives.
Joe Kratz &#8212; the patriarch of the family &#8212; who started the original family business in Regina in the 60&#8217;s after emigrating from Germany, says he couldn&#8217;t be prouder.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7482666/saskatoon-man-federal-government-medicinal-cannabis-coverage/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Saskatoon man calls for federal government to widen medicinal cannabis coverage" target="_blank">
				Saskatoon man calls for federal government to widen medicinal cannabis coverage			</a>
		
	
&#8220;I’m very happy. I hope they make a success out of it. We used to build houses, we&#8217;ve done real good and then things went down &#8212; this is a good future, I think,” said J. Kratz.
Alex co-owns the business with his dad, Ralph Kratz, who says it took a lot of hard work to be able to secure licenses to be able to grow the cannabis, along with having the correct building codes in place.
But, despite the long, grueling hours they’ve put into rebuilding their legacy, he says he’s glad he gets to come into work with his family by his side.
&#8220;It&#8217;s nice to work with the whole family here. It can be challenging at times when you&#8217;re working with your sons and daughters and father and that kind of thing and wife as well, but other than that, I enjoy it and wouldn&#8217;t have it any other way,” Ralph Kratz stated.
Alex says as the family business continues to sprout, he&#8217;d like to thank everyone who carries on with supporting local, helping them reach higher levels of success.

Growing a new business from scratch is no easy task but one Regina family has done just that, cultivating a budding commercial cannabis operation after decades in construction.

Canada

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Regina family turns construction business into cannabis cultivation

While the announcements of both new <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19-vaccine-saskatchewan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccination timelines</a> and a three-phase plan to reopen the economy brought a sense of optimism to Saskatchewan this week, some <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/small-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">small business</a> owners in the province say their spirits feel unchanged.
&#8220;It&#8217;s very concerning that there&#8217;s no plan. There&#8217;s no plan for the buffet industry and I mean, that was our bread and butter before this,&#8221; said Justin Linder, who owns the Rotisserie in <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/coronavirus-regina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Regina</a>.
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t have any takeout. We didn&#8217;t have any options besides the buffet.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7833847/covid-19-saskatchewan-roadmap-reopening/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="COVID-19: Saskatchewan lays out ‘roadmap’ in reopening from pandemic">
				COVID-19: Saskatchewan lays out ‘roadmap’ in reopening from pandemic			</a>
		
	
Linder has pivoted to provide takeout, but with a large part of his 6,000-square-foot restaurant built for buffets, he says keeping his business afloat continues to be a struggle.
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				<img class="story-img" src="https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/WEB-STILL2-THE-ROTISSERIE.jpg?quality=85&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512" alt="With controlled line-ups, PPE, and the sneeze guards already in place, Justin Linder thinks a plan could easily be made to allow for safe operation of buffets.">
			
		
				
			
						 		With controlled line-ups, PPE, and the sneeze guards already in place, Justin Linder thinks a plan could easily be made to allow for safe operation of buffets.
				
						 		File / Global News
							
		
			
	
&#8220;All that was announced was that it&#8217;s certain you cannot have a buffet,&#8221; Linder said, adding he thinks his buffet could be safely operated with physical distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE), sneeze guards and sanitization.
&#8220;If you set up a plan, we can make it work. This has been going on for over a year now and you&#8217;re telling me you can&#8217;t figure out a way by now to cover every industry. You chose everybody to lock down. You need to get a plan so everybody can come back. To just say, &#8216;We&#8217;ll look at it in Phase 3 when the time comes&#8217;, what kind of plan is that?
&#8220;For us, reopening will take weeks and weeks of planning.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7843007/covid-19-regina-restaurant-rules/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="COVID-19: In-person dining in Regina restaurants will resume May 17">
				COVID-19: In-person dining in Regina restaurants will resume May 17			</a>
		
	
Linder said he&#8217;s also concerned that if buffets continue to be left out of re-opening plans, it may be tough to attract customers back even when they are finally given the green light.
&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely in the back of my mind, that is this industry ever going to recover to what it is. But I do get a lot of calls with people asking me &#8216;is the buffet back'&#8221;.
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				<img class="story-img" src="https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/WEB-STILL-2-JULIANY-2.jpg?quality=85&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512" alt="Juliany Qureshi, owner of Salsa Colada, has pivoted to stream dance lessons online and has developed a plan for distanced in-person classes. But she says she is having trouble recahing the 8-person limit currently placed on such activities.">
			
		
				
			
						 		Juliany Qureshi, owner of Salsa Colada, has pivoted to stream dance lessons online and has developed a plan for distanced in-person classes. But she says she is having trouble recahing the 8-person limit currently placed on such activities.
				
						 		Connor O&#039;Donovan / Global News
							
		
			
	
Salsa Colada dance studio owner Juliany Qureshi shares some of Linder&#8217;s concerns, though both stressed the fact that they don&#8217;t want to jeopardize anyone&#8217;s safety by reopening too soon.
Participation in fitness activities like her dance classes is currently limited by public health order to eight participants with a minimum of three metres of distancing between each person.
Again, the newly announced reopening plan makes no explicit mention of allowing such activities to operate normally before Phase 3 in which &#8220;most remaining restrictions will be lifted&#8221;.
But even as things are right now, Qureshi said she&#8217;s having trouble finding enough participants to meet that 8-person limit.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve gone from 35 children in my classes to 11 children, and from 60-70 adult ladies to less than 24. And we have allowed classes of up to 8, but those classes are not full. For us, it&#8217;s not even about opening up Saskatchewan, it&#8217;s about how people are feeling right now. They&#8217;re not ready to get back to activities that are allowed,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty much in the hands of either the public or the government, for small businesses. The government needs to make us feel safe, and the people to actually feel safe. But a lot of people feel paralyzed.&#8221;
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Quereshi said that for the past year, her business has been struggling to pay the bills and is &#8220;barely staying afloat.&#8221;
She said that at this point, she&#8217;s looking at September as the earliest point at which her business could return to some kind of normalcy.
&#8220;At this point it&#8217;s about staying active in the community, staying visible in the community so that when everything goes back to normal, as normal as things are going to get to, people will remember us,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;And when things open up, people are going to be looking for ways to enhance their mental health. That&#8217;s what we&#8217;ll be here for &#8211; to provide them with fun, laughter and an environment that is going to be safe and welcoming. And I hope people do turn to small businesses that have struggled throughout the pandemic.&#8221;

Global News spoke to a number of small business owners, including of a buffet and dance studio, about why they feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is still faint.

COVID-19: Some business owners feeling left out of Saskatchewan’s reopening ‘roadmap’

The photos on the walls of Whalley&#8217;s Round Up Cafe are plastered with photos of Surrey&#8217;s past, but after Friday it&#8217;s the iconic North Surrey diner that will be a part of history.
After more than six decades in business at King George Boulevard and 104A Avenue, the restaurant is calling it quits — another casualty of the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> pandemic.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4868799/pitt-meadows-roosters-cabaret-closing-weekend/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Huge crowds pack Pitt Meadows&#8217; iconic Roosters Cabaret for closing weekend" target="_blank">
				Huge crowds pack Pitt Meadows&#8217; iconic Roosters Cabaret for closing weekend			</a>
		
	
&#8220;With COVID, the restaurant industry is being shut down for a period of time, and then opened up, and only being able to be open for 50 per cent of occupancy and then shut down again,&#8221; Dennis Springenatic — whose parents bought the diner in 1959 — told Global News.
&#8220;It&#8217;s tough to survive.&#8221;
The diner, known for its big breakfasts and Ukrainian food, has been a community hub in Whalley for longer than many of its patrons can remember.
Springenatic&#8217;s father Orest was heavily involved in Whalley little league, further tying the business to the community.
&#8220;There&#8217;s so many stories people have told us over the years — their mom and dad met here or they had their first milkshake here or came from the roller rink when they were 12 years old and listened to the jukebox,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s jus the memories of this place after 60-something years.&#8221;
Former Surrey MLA and MP Penny Priddy dropped by Friday to say goodbye, after dining at the restaurant for 40 years.
&#8220;What I think will be missing is what some people call placemaking,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Places that are the heart of the community, they have history, they have memories, they make the place what it is.&#8221;
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Diane Konings and her husband Ed stopped by the restaurant Friday for a final meal with their now-grown children.
Konings worked the graveyard shift at the diner 35 years ago — an era when the Round Up was open 24 hours a day — while Ed stayed home and watched the kids.
&#8220;I remember one night when they threw napkin holders through the window at each other, smashed the windows,&#8221; she said of the rowdy crowd that would sometimes descend on the restaurant after bars were closed and parties were over.
&#8220;What am I going to miss? Oh, the people,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Everybody loves them.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6925509/coronavirus-army-navy-closing/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Army and Navy, 101-year-old Canadian discount retailer, to close permanently under COVID-19" target="_blank">
				Army and Navy, 101-year-old Canadian discount retailer, to close permanently under COVID-19			</a>
		
	
Springenatic said the family plans a &#8220;somewhat slow semi-retirement&#8221; after the restaurant is closed.
They intend to hold onto the property and rent the building out in the short term, though with the pace of development in the area, the venerable structure&#8217;s days are likely numbered.
&#8220;One day it won&#8217;t be here, it will be a high-rise,&#8221; Springenatic said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s been a great place to grow up. It&#8217;s a sad day, but eventually we knew one day it was going to happen. It&#8217;s too bad it took a pandemic,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;I was born in this place. Literally.&#8221;

The family that owns the restaurant says it’s yet another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education

Covid

Iconic Surrey Restaurant

Round Up Cafe

Round-up

Small Business Closure

Surrey Business

Surrey Cafe

Surrey Restaurant

Last call at the Round Up Cafe as beloved Surrey diner closes after 62 years

Coaldale&#8217;s 18th Street was alive Sunday afternoon as a drive-by farewell took place for Dilo&#8217;s Pizza &amp; Spaghetti House.
The restaurant is a fixture in the area. It&#8217;s been in business for 41 years.
&#8220;They&#8217;re one of the longest-serving restaurants in the history of Coaldale,&#8221; said Jack Van Rijn, one of the drive-by organizers. &#8220;Over four decades. For southern Alberta, it&#8217;s going to be a huge loss.&#8221;
Van Rijn wanted to make sure the Kollias family, who ran the restaurant, got the farewell they deserved. The owners, Nick and Sia Kollias, are retiring.
&#8220;We used to have a joke that when you couldn&#8217;t find the kids, just go to Dilo&#8217;s,&#8221; he said, wiping a tear from his face. &#8220;That would be one of the first places we would look. It&#8217;s just been a huge family affair for many years.&#8221;
He was one of the organizers of the drive-by.
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				<img class="story-img" src="https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/172238018_10157730368337251_4983466209096163970_n.jpg?quality=85&#038;strip=all&#038;w=341" alt="A Facebook post reminding Coaldale residents about the farewell for Dilo&#8217;s Pizza.">
			
		
				
			
						 		A Facebook post reminding Coaldale residents about the farewell for Dilo&#8217;s Pizza.
				
						 		Facebook
							
		
			
	
Cars filled the Coaldale Sportsplex parking lot on Sunday afternoon to get ready to say goodbye.
The parade was led by RCMP and the Coaldale Fire Department.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Dilo’s Pizza in Coaldale is closing after serving the community for over 40 years. Community members organized a drive-by goodbye to celebrate the owners retirement (and according to some kids behind me, “the best pizza in the world.”) <a href="https://t.co/9GQEZST01y" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/9GQEZST01y</a>
&mdash; jessica (@jessicarobb_) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessicarobb_/status/1386433694433366016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">April 25, 2021</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
One of the organizers sent me this photo of the gathering before the drive by started <a href="https://t.co/DDqqqWws4f" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/DDqqqWws4f</a>
&mdash; jessica (@jessicarobb_) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessicarobb_/status/1386435226977673216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">April 25, 2021</a></blockquote>

Christina Kollias, daughter of owners Nick and Sia Kollias, knew about the farewell. Her parents were surprised when they were led out of the restaurant and onto a truck bed where lawn chairs and an umbrella was waiting for them.
Cars came down the street. Everyone was waving, some stopped to say goodbye, and some had messages painted on their windows.
&#8220;It was very nice of the town to do that,&#8221; said Christina after the parade. &#8220;And we appreciate everybody. And we will miss everybody.&#8221;
Nick and Sia said they were very surprised and were still wiping away tears even after the parade ended.
&#8220;Very emotional,&#8221; said Christina. &#8220;We felt the love today. And we want [everyone] to know we love everyone in the community.&#8221;

Coaldale community members organized a drive-by farewell for the owners of Dilo’s Pizza & Spaghetti House on Sunday. The restaurant has been in business for 41 years.

Coaldale

Dilo's Pizza

Dilo's Pizza & Spaghetti House

Lethbridge

Local

Southern Alberta community says goodbye to longstanding restaurant

News that e-commerce giant Amazon is opening a warehouse and distribution centre in Dartmouth, N.S., isn’t fazing some of the province’s business and labour groups.
Amazon has not yet publicly announced the move to 180 Thornhill Dr. in Burnside, but Dartmouth councillor Tony Mancini confirmed it in an email.
“It has been confirmed they are opening a location in Burnside.  I don’t have any more information,” he said. “Amazon was to make an announcement last week but it didn’t happen.”
The facility is slated to employ about 300 people but it’s unclear when it will open. Amazon did not respond to a media request from Global News.
Danny Cavanagh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, had mixed feelings about the future facility.
“In some respects, it’s good news. We need the jobs here, and Amazon, I think, pays a little bit more than minimum wage, so in that sense there will be fairly decent jobs,” said Cavanagh.
“Although we’d rather see good unionized jobs come to the province, which are much more beneficial.”
		
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				Amazon confirms drivers urinating in bottles, claims issue is &#8216;industry-wide&#8217;			</a>
		
	
The company, which is famously anti-union, has come under fire in recent weeks for its labour practices, which include staff being overworked and not being able to take proper bathroom breaks.
Warehouses like Amazon’s have also become a hotspot for COVID-19 in harder-hit areas. More than 600 cases of the virus have been linked to an <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/coronavirus-amazon-brampton-labour-ministry-investigation" target="_blank">outbreak at an Amazon warehouse</a> in Brampton, Ont.
While Cavanagh said Nova Scotia’s labour laws are in desperate need of an update, they would still mean employees would be protected from any infractions.
“We do need to see a modernization of labour standards in Nova Scotia, but for the most part, if Amazon comes here they need to abide by the law like any other employer,” he said.
“And if the people that work there decide they want to form a union, they have that fundamental charter right under the Canadian charter to do that.”
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/covid-vaccine-doses-amazon-workers-brampton-ontario-declined" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Peel Region&#8217;s top doctor declined 5,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for Amazon worker outbreak" target="_blank">
				Peel Region&#8217;s top doctor declined 5,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for Amazon worker outbreak			</a>
		
	
On the small business side of things, Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, doesn’t think the new Amazon facility will put more pressure on smaller businesses in the area.
“It’s not like customers don’t already know about Amazon,” he said. “I don’t know that having an Amazon warehouse locally is going to make them any more or less likely to shop at Amazon than they were before.”
<h2>Local businesses ‘digital-ready’</h2>
While there may be concerns among small business owners that the local warehouse would mean faster delivery times, giving Amazon the competitive edge, MacKinnon said many businesses have the ability to get their products delivered quickly, if the orders are local.
<a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19/" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> has forced many of them to up their e-commerce game, he added.
“I would say the local business community has been taking great strides … to really get local businesses digital-ready,” said MacKinnon.
“More businesses are in a much better position to compete directly with Amazon when it comes to online shopping.”
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				<img class="story-img" src="https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CP120075593-1.jpg?quality=85&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512" alt="An empty parking lot is shown at the Amazon Fulfillment Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brampton, Ont., on March 15, 2021. One of the Amazon centres was ordered to shutdown due to COVID-19.">
			
		
				
			
						 		An empty parking lot is shown at the Amazon Fulfillment Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brampton, Ont., on March 15, 2021. One of the Amazon centres was ordered to shutdown due to COVID-19.
				
						 		THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
							
		
			
	
Tim Rissesco, executive director of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission, agreed, saying he doesn’t see much of a competition between the e-commerce giant and the small shops lining the city’s downtown streets.
Rissesco anticipates Amazon’s arrival would likely have a larger impact on some of the big-box stores in the area instead.
“To a large degree, Amazon operates in a different ecosystem than a lot of our retailers,” he said. “Many of the products that you would buy downtown, you can’t find on Amazon.”
Rissesco also said if there are labour concerns at the new facility, it&#8217;s likely those will come out publicly.
&#8220;We have fairly strong local media, and then also just a culture of sharing and communicating,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So I think it would be harder for one of these big fishes to get away with some of those sorts of abuses that we sometimes hear in the media from larger cities.&#8221;
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Amazon has not yet publicly announced the move to 180 Thornhill Dr. in Burnside, but Dartmouth councillor Tony Mancini confirmed it in an email.

Economy

Amazon

Covid-19

Dartmouth

Halifax

Labour

Unions

Warehouse

Business, labour groups unfazed by Amazon’s upcoming arrival in Nova Scotia

The Edmundston area has been in lockdown for nearly two weeks now — and for the third time since COVID-19 came to New Brunswick over a year ago.
It was almost a month ago the province first moved the region around the northwestern city into the tough Red Level of its COVID-19 recovery plan. The province hopes the circuit breaker move would prevent an outbreak from spiking.
According to the Department of Health, there are currently 100 active cases in Zone 4 alone — nearly 72 per cent of all active cases provincewide.
At a briefing Tuesday afternoon, chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, said the outbreak there remains “stubbornly consistent,” with Variants of Concern (VOC) partly to blame for its longevity.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/new-brunswick-covid-19-update-april-20-2021" target="_blank">New Brunswick reports 1st blood clot linked to AstraZeneca, no new COVID-19 cases</a>
Residents of the region say that compared to previous outbreaks, they and their neighbours are feeling more fearful and more defeated.
“What can we do? We feel pretty powerless,” says Denis Boulet, who lives in the locked-down Haut-Madawaska area 20 minutes west of Edmundston.
“Despite the fact that I can’t talk to anybody face-to-face, I just sort of feel it,&#8221; Boulet says.
<blockquote>“The morale’s pretty low.”</blockquote>
He says most residents are following the strict lockdown rules from what he sees on social media.
One video making the rounds online shows law enforcement confronting a number of people gathered within the lockdown area.

Someone in it talks to police for several minutes, claiming everyone at the gathering is within their rights to be there regardless of Public Health regulations.
The individual instead says that the uniformed officers are trespassing on private property.
The officers take the person&#8217;s name but leave without a citation issued that the video show.
Those at the gathering applaud as law enforcement retreats.
“This is a minority,” Boulet says while admitting he isn’t privy to everything in the area.
He says local social media isn’t seeing the rallying cry previous lockdowns brought on. No one is banging pots and pans for healthcare workers or challenging each other to support struggling local businesses.
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				<img class="story-img" src="https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/clb2-1.jpg?quality=85&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512" alt="Louise Fyfe worries her business may not survive.">
			
		
				
			
						 		Louise Fyfe worries her business may not survive.
				
						 		Submitted by Louise Fyfe
							
		
			
	
Café owner Louise Fyfe says that while closed again amid the lockdown, the only revenue her business is generating is kind words.
“People are very nice to us and saying, ‘have some courage’ and ‘we’re supporting you’ and all that, but I can’t bring that to the bank,” Fyfe says.
<blockquote>“The bank doesn’t take courage, it takes money.”</blockquote>
When Global News caught up to Fyfe through previous lockdowns, she said she felt inspired to face reinvention amid strict measures.
This time, she’s just hoping her café can survive to see restrictions loosened once more.
“I just want to do everything I can to save my business, really because we’ve worked so hard,” she says.
Having been here before, though, she says hope is a dangerous thing to have.
“That’s what’s getting me really tired. To start again, lose,” Fyfe says.
“I think the hope is the hard part.”
The province has previously said it would reevaluate Thursday whether the lockdown will need to be extended once more.

The province says it will reevaluate Thursday whether the lockdown will need to be extended again.

Health

Cafe Lotus Bleu

Denis Boulet

Edmundston

Lockdown

Lousie Fyfe

Edmundston area struggling to shake off latest outbreak

A mother-daughter team from the Okanagan is on a mission to help small business owners by putting them in the spotlight.
Renee Braun, with her mom Wendy McAlpine, has launched a <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-your-maker-documentary#/" target="_blank">Meet Your Makers campaign</a> to help them create a documentary featuring local businesses.
		
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				Okanagan family honours mother&#8217;s memory with fundraiser trek			</a>
		
	
&#8220;We need to keep small makers afloat and really show off that these are our creators in our community,&#8221; said Braun.
&#8220;Let&#8217;s support them through this hard time and make sure they are alive because we want to come back to them for years after.&#8221;
The duo is planning on featuring 10 Okanagan entrepreneurs in their documentary that they hope will be picked up by major streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
&#8220;These businesses have been pivoting hard, creating new things and finding new ways to get their things to market. The market disappeared for a while and then it was only open to food and some of our makers are in the market but don&#8217;t have food,&#8221; said McAlpine.
One of the businesses to be profiled is <a href="https://jaideandjoelsbakingco.com/" target="_blank">Jaide and Joel&#8217;s Baking Co.</a> run by high school sweethearts Jaide Hatfield and Joel Murga, with the help of their family. Together they create gluten-free and vegan delights for customers with restricted diets.
&#8220;When we first started this business we really wanted to help people with their allergies; whether it was gluten, dairy or eggs,&#8221; said Murga.
&#8220;A big thing for us is seeing the customer&#8217;s looks on their face or when children come in and ask if everything is gluten-free and vegan and they get so excited and that&#8217;s really why we do it,&#8221; said Hatfield.
		
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				Kelowna&#8217;s Ink Parlour counterbalances tattoo industry with all-female team			</a>
		
	
After hitting a crossroads the business owners had to make the choice to pivot from commercial baking to opening up their own storefront last year and the community has rallied around them as they pivot again and again to stay in accordance with Public Health Orders.
&#8220;Everything that is coming up [during the pandemic] takes a huge emotional toll and you don&#8217;t realize it until you stop and realize wow this is really difficult,&#8221; said Hatfield.
&#8220;It&#8217;s almost like we don&#8217;t have time to worry about it because we need to worry about the business to make sure it doesn&#8217;t go under,&#8221; said Murga.
To learn more about the Meet Your Makers campaign and the businesses involved visit their<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-your-maker-documentary#/" target="_blank"> fundraising website.</a>

“We need to keep small makers afloat and really show off these are our creators in our community.”

Documentary

Fundraiser

Okanagan

Online Fundraiser

Pandemic

Support Local

Teamwork

Okanagan film team strive to support local entrepreneurs with documentary

More than 20 <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/small-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">small businesses</a> in Saskatoon are pledging to donate funds to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/prairie-harm-reduction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Prairie Harm Reduction</a> (PHR).
The companies are posting statements on social media, promising to send funds to the supervised consumption site after the provincial government decided not to provide an additional $1.3 million to PHR in the recent provincial budget.
PHR requested the funds so the site could operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help more clients.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/saskatchewan-funding-drug-consumption-site" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Saskatchewan government denies new funding for supervised consumption site" target="_blank">
				Saskatchewan government denies new funding for supervised consumption site			</a>
		
	
Steven Hawrishok, owner of Kitako Lake Honey, along with The Better Good, raised $900 for PHR.
“It occurred to me that this would be a way to raise a bit of awareness and hopefully raise a bit of money through the avenue that I have available, which is selling honey,” Hawrishok said, speaking over Zoom from near Naicam, Sask.
When asked why a honey farmer outside of a small town was interested in supporting an organization in downtown Saskatoon, he said he considers the city his second home — and has also known people struggling with addictions and who died from an overdose.
“We need to support organizations like this who save lives and harm reduction in general saves lives,” he said.
“This is just one more cause, another chance for us to step up and do what we can to help somebody that needs a little bit of extra help,” Jody Taylor said.
Taylor is the kitchen manager of Sparrow Coffee, in Saskatoon’s City Park neighbourhood.
The café’s owners are donating a dollar from every sale of a citrus cardamom bun in April.
He said it was “something that we know we do well and we can do lots of. And we can take that opportunity to give back as much as we can.”
“I’ve known lots of cooks that have struggled with addictions and met a lot of people in my life that can use facilities like this.”
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/saskatoon-kinsmen-donation" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Fundraiser goals reached by 2 Saskatoon organizations, Kinsmen Club to match donations" target="_blank">
				Fundraiser goals reached by 2 Saskatoon organizations, Kinsmen Club to match donations			</a>
		
	
Breanna Coates pledged to donate 80 per cent of income earned from her flower business, Bre’s Blooms, this year.
“There are so many overdoses this year in Saskatoon. … That&#8217;s somebody&#8217;s mom. That&#8217;s somebody&#8217;s friend,” she said, speaking over Zoom.
The fourth-year nursing student called the decision a “no-brainer.”
Jason Mercredi, the executive director of PHR, said he wasn’t expecting the support.
He said it was humbling.
“(The owners) are donating what they can, which is amazing. And all those things are going to add up into us being able to continue operations this year,” he said.
He also said the fact that funding fell to small businesses proved the Saskatchewan government was ignoring a crisis.
“I think it’s pretty clear the government’s checked out of this problem. They’re not taking any responsibility,” he said.
According to the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service, 336 people died from either overdose or suspected overdose in 2020.
Between Jan. 1 and April 6 this year, 106 people have died from the same causes.
When asked about funding PHR on Tuesday, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said the province had chosen to fund effective treatment measures, like funding new treatment beds and improving access to naloxone.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/saskatoon-kinsmen-donation" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Fundraiser goals reached by 2 Saskatoon organizations, Kinsmen Club to match donations" target="_blank">
				Fundraiser goals reached by 2 Saskatoon organizations, Kinsmen Club to match donations			</a>
		
	
When pressed on the matter on budget day, the minister responsible for rural addictions and mental health, Everett Hindley, said the government is focusing on a wide-ranging approach to address the challenge.
The province is maintaining the current funding to PHR, around $900,000 from the ministries of Health and Social Services, which helps PHR operate regular business hours.
Mercredi said staff are always needed, especially on weekends and overnight.
“The budget came out Tuesday, our waiting room was full, the consumption site was full pretty much open until close.”

More than 20 small businesses are pledging to help fund Prairie Harm Reduction after the provincial budget denied the supervised consumption site any further funding. Continue reading →

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