Local Virden business owner, Zoey Jebb, has brought to our attention an open letter to the government asking for the re-opening of small businesses. She says that today, Thursday Jan. 14, is the last day to sign this letter.
Jebb’s business closed in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19, and being a new enterprise, did not have the resources to wait-out the shutdown.
The concerns for business owners are well stated on the Brandon and Area Small Business Town Hall Facebook page. Much like what a Chamber of Commerce would do, this is a public Facebook group for the small business owners in the area to band together. They hope to speed the re-opening of businesses that have been closed due to Code Red restrictions.
Kori Gordon, on her Facebook page says this is not the same as the CFIB petition.https://promo.cfib-fcei.ca/savemanitoba “CFIB has generated a petition for people to sign requesting that the government allow small businesses to open under regions rather than a blanket coverage of the entire province.
“Both speak to the same issues but you should sign both if you are in favor of small businesses reopening on January 22nd safely. The more the government continues to get the same message, the better chance we have of them hearing it.
“Please note, you do not have to be a business owner to sign this petition. There is an option for consumer or business owner, so sign away if you are in agreement with this proposal.”
In a lengthy letter two of a number of points the group asks for are:
1. That the government allow businesses in the regions not contributing to the majority of the case count to go to Code Orange as of January 22nd, 2021. Why should the entire province be under lockdown when the majority of the cases are coming from two specific areas?
2. In those regions, the essential, non-essential distinction be removed both on products and businesses. All products and businesses are essential and the government really shouldn’t have the power to determine what they deem essential.
That letter can be found on Facebook as well: BRANDON AND AREA SMALL BUSINESS TOWN HALL. There’s instructions on how to sign this letter here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/666259307587850/
