A press release issued October 3 is calling for the provincial government to forgive and reimburse all provincial sales tax payments due since April 1, when restaurants first closed for lockdown.
Toby Lyle, owner of the Burgundy Lion Group, argues in the release that the financial assistance promised for the upcoming month in the form of partially forgivable loans is an insult to an industry with such thin margins, especially after having spent so much money retrofitting their businesses to allow for safe dining.
“The CAQ government’s choice to close us all on the day that the federal CECRA rent assistance program expires and that tens of thousands of restaurants and bars across the province have a full month’s rent due shows that Legault, the entrepreneur, has no idea what the reality of being an entrepreneur actually is,” Lyle states in the press release.
The petition, signed by 14 other restaurant and bar owners, states that the owners will pay GST, “but will send it directly to the CRA to ensure that the provincial government do not have access to any of our funds.”
He also blames the government’s messaging from hurting the restaurant industry when they were allowed to seat customers this summer. “We have reacted more responsibly than most industries and yet had to deal with a barrage of political messaging dissuading the public from visiting us in the short three months we were allowed to operate,” reads the statement.
So far, there’s been no response from government officials.
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