The vaccine passport may have been removed but the province still won’t allow dancing, and there are those in the restaurant industry who say that move doesn’t jive with their bottom line.
“You can't have any dancing. You can't have any pool. You can't have darts. You can't have anything. So, us being a live music venue, basically that's hurting us just as much until they remove all the restrictions,” said Cindy Moll from LB’s Pub in Akinsdale.
The province removed the Restriction Exemption Program (REP) — otherwise known as the vaccine passport requirement — on Feb. 8, along with a plan to phase out other health restrictions in three steps. Ending vaccine passports was the first step to the “return to normal,” but was it a big enough step for businesses in the entertainment and restaurant industry?
Moll said LB's may have seen a few more customers, but generally restrictions are still hurting the businesses that rely on activities such as pool and dancing.
She said the pub no longer has to pay someone to scan codes at the door but that doesn’t change the fact that, without the other activities allowed, people are not going out.
The province still has restrictions on closing times, alcohol service, table capacity in restaurants, and interactive activities such as dancing, darts, and pool.
Moll said she has had heard from several very vocal customers about provincial restrictions.
“You know that ‘COVID only comes out after 11 o'clock, and only if you're dancing or playing pool.’ You can have a table up to 10 people. There are not very many households that include 10 people these days. So honestly, the restrictions counteract themselves is what they do,” she said.
Moll said it will be nice to be back in full force.
“We've been doing this for two years now, you know, trying to keep our doors open,” she said.
Matthew Atkins from Endeavour Brewing Company said not having to scan QR codes has made things less awkward and a lot faster.
“People are able to just kind of come in and go sit down, whereas we would basically always have a lineup out the door waiting for us to do that,” he said.
Atkins said he understands why the government brought it in, but the program has been difficult on people and on businesses.
Atkins said the removal of the REP will be a give and take, but business picked up last week.
“We lost some customers when [REP] came in. And then we saw them come back last week [when the] REP program went out,” he said, adding he will probably lose some customers who don’t think it should be gone.
“I've had a couple of customers say they're a little more uneasy. Because of [the REP removal],” he said.
On the flip side, Atkins said he has heard from many customers who have said they feel fine about the program ending and feel safe in his establishment because he keeps everything clean and sanitary.
Gary Blaine, the general manager at Dicey Reilly's, said the bar has seen a bit of an uptake in business.
“But being that they haven't really fully rescinded the program yet, I don't think we've seen the full effects,” he said.
Blaine said there is a general air of excitement among his customers.
“I know there's been a lot of COVID fatigue, going back and forth, a yo-yo effect that we've had on for the last two-and-a-bit years. I think everyone's just kind of anxious to get back to living a normal life and not having to think about it,” he said.
Blaine said he knows customer comfort is on a specturm. The pub has guests who are concerned about COVID who they haven’t seen in months. The pub also has guests who do what they ask because that’s what the rules are, and “some that just want to buck against the rules.”
He does have concerns, but Blaine is hoping the province won’t have to go back again on its opening plans.
“We’ve done it so many times. It's always in the back of your mind, but I think the one thing that we learned as an industry, you know, hotels, bars, restaurants, especially over the last few years, is you have to adapt,” he said.
Blaine thinks business will start to kick up once restrictions on dancing, darts, and masking are removed.
He said it was depressing when everyone was masked and muffled and it’s nice to have the human element of people laughing again.
“I love walking around here [during] happy hour when it's almost full — just hearing that chatter and someone laughs over here, and someone tells a joke and the customer's got a story. That's why I love the pub setting.”
