It is no secret that businesses across the globe have been on a wild and often unpleasant roller coaster ride for the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But since Premier Kenney announced that there will be a gradual easing of COVID-19 related health measures last week, starting with the Restrictions Exemption Program becoming obsolete last Wednesday, some Airdrie businesses are not taking the province's announcement at face value. Heather Harke, the business owner of a local e-commerce store in Airdrie with a brick-and-mortar store in the city said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the business's strategy has always been that of risk assessment.
"I operate within the parameters of what is a potential safety risk and how do we mitigate those risks? How can we just ensure that the public is safe, our staff and team are safe and that we're safe," she said.
When the pandemic first exploded, Harke explained that the physical store didn't have as much foot traffic as other stores, but all cleaning protocols were still in place, regardless.
"We would disinfect the entire store after everyone left and we had them put book appointments for picking up their orders," Harke said. "We adapted and we were always looking at what was the safest, what was the most cautionary way to go about doing things. I hear people often use the term as being 'fearful' and what have you, but we actually operate in our regular lives every day on a series of different risk assessments."
Harke did underline that because her business already had a firm foundation on the internet with an e-commerce site, she averted financial hardships that other businesses may have encountered due to their customer-facing business. She also stated that she acutely observes how other businesses have adapted during the pandemic and has attempted to take those ideas and make them her own as a way of continuing to evolve as a business in a pandemic.
"There are definitely businesses that have been impacted way more than ours. We already had an established business online and a presence online," Harke said. "I just found that the adaptability or willingness to look at something outside of what our expected norms were is what helped us cope."
When Harke was asked about her view on the provincial government's loosening of COVID-19 health restrictions, she said she thinks it's a good idea, but it will not change her modus operandi.
"It just comes back to my business ethics and what I feel I'm responsible for as a business owner," she said. "I will always err on that side of caution. That doesn't mean that it will continue forever. Our store will maintain what we have. We have a staff member that is 68 and we have staff members that have immunocompromised family members. I am not going to put ourselves at unnecessary risk."
However, while Harke's business was able to weather the turbulent financial storm throughout the pandemic by capitalizing on selling products online, Deano Ewtushik, a professional magician and owner of Edge Entertainment in Airdrie, by nature of his business was not able to capitalize on e-commerce.
"[It's] not only my business but entertainment in general, across North America, it became non-existent," he said. "Other businesses I know here in Airdrie, even in Calgary, that had storefronts and that have been around for years and years, they closed down. Whereas my [business] and a lot of entertainment agencies, we don't have storefronts and so we didn't have to pay exorbitant rental fees for not working."
Ewtushik, who has been in the entertainment business since 1997 said that one of the greatest pains of the COVID-19 pandemic is that businesses in his field were not privy to as much government-assisted funding.
"The entertainment [industry] when we went to do that [apply for CRA funding] you could only pick certain months that you could use [to apply for funding] and our business quite cyclical in nature; December being the actual absolute busiest times of the year due to Christmas parties," Ewtushik said. "So I think that the entertainment industry was overlooked, but I mean that's how I've made my living for all these years."
With the provincial restrictions ebbing, he hopes that business will rev up once again, though Ewtushik worries it may take years for things to truly be back to normal.
"I don't think that it's going to go back to what it was in a short period of time; it is going to take time. It's just because companies are still going to be leery of doing big parties," he said.
Although Ewtushik has seen his clients dwindle and is wary of what the future holds, he is certain of one thing; continuing to be his own boss, pandemic or no pandemic.
"You know, it has been slow the last few years, but you can't just sit idle, you do have to be a mover and a shaker," he said. "I never sat back and aid. 'Why me?'. I just stay positive, because that's all you can do. We will be able to recover from this."
For Megan (who asked that her full name not be used for confidentiality reasons), though she is not an Airdrie business owner has been severely impacted by the pandemic as she is a server bartender.
"When, when COVID first started, they [the business] were really unsure about how to go forward with things and how that would affect our industry, just simply because nobody knew anything about it," she said.
As COVID-19 progressed, Megan was given a few choices with regards to her work hours, none of which were financially feasible.
"I made the choice to work part-time, so that went from me working full time, Monday to the weekend, full time bartending and serving, making minimum wage plus tips. Then once the first lockdown happened, I was given two shifts a week at three or four-hour shifts at a time," Megan said. "There's a pretty huge difference in income between those two situations and that was concerning."
Megan expressed frustration at the fact that the COVID-19 health regulations were in constant flux.
"Things were just constantly changing within the industry: cleanliness standards and cleanliness practices were constantly changing," she said. "What things need to be wiped with bleach, what things need to be wiped with just sanitizers; there was just no uniformity with rules. And of course, it causes a business to suffer and the people that work there. It just got absolutely ridiculous. I'm a server bartender and I don't feel that it is within my job description to be responsible for policing people in that manner."
Megan said she can't wait a minute longer to see the remaining COVID-19 restrictions lifted, though she has little confidence in the politicians leading Alberta.
"My confidence in Jason Kenney at this point is 0 per cent. He's proven time and time again, that as a politician, he has absolutely no credibility," she said. "I would say let them lift all the mandate now. That's the only acceptable answer; all of them gone immediately, overnight. There's no slow rollout, there's no consideration for timing. It's right now, all of it or nothing. In terms of what that means for me, hopefully, all the mandates are lifted immediately, right away. I think that the restaurant industry will be somewhat like it was after the prohibition. I think it'll be everybody's going to come out with their families and celebrate."
As of Monday, February 14th:
- Masks will no longer be required for all children and youth in schools.
- Masks will no longer be required in any setting for children aged 12 and under.
According to the provincial government, if COVID-19 numbers, including hospitalizations, continue to trend downwards, on March 1st, the second step of loosening restrictions will happen.
Effective March 1:
- Any remaining provincial school requirements (including cohorting) will be removed.
- Screening prior to youth activities will no longer be required.
- Capacity limits will be lifted for all venues.
- Limits on social gatherings will be removed.
- The provincial mask mandate will be removed.
- Mandatory work from home removed.
Step three will be determined based on hospitalization rates continuing to trend downwards:
- COVID-specific measures in continuing care will be removed.
- Mandatory isolation becomes a recommendation only.
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