The owner of several Windsor-Essex restaurants wants the local health unit to reconsider some restrictions on dancing and hours.
A petition has been started by WKND Hospitality Group, urging the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit to allow bars and restaurants to open from midnight to 2 a.m., as well as indoor dancing. Under current guidelines designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, restaurants and bars must close at midnight.
WKND owns and operates The Bull and Barrel and Wild Child Nightlife in downtown Windsor, and The G.O.A.T. Tap and Eatery locations in LaSalle and Belle River. The group's Matt Kosma told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that like many hospitality businesses in Windsor-Essex, he had taken a hit too.
"I feel we're almost back to the shutdown times that we were at five or six months ago," said Kosma. "There's one of my establishments where I essentially closed it, and there are probably about 20 to 30 people off work right now."
The health unit provided restaurants and bars with a letter of instruction earlier this month with a list of the current guidelines. Kosma contended that it's outdated since it was issued when Windsor-Essex had the highest COVID-19 case rate per capita in Ontario. Kosma did not divulge his opinion on vaccines, but with a vaccine passport in place, he said he's unable to allow a certain percentage of his clientele in his businesses.
"If vaccines are the answer to this pandemic, and I have to discriminate against some of my clientele and only let in vaccinated patrons, then why do we still have these punitive restrictions?" asked Kosma.
Kosma said WKND and other owners have worked with local business improvement associations to ask the health unit to allow patios to stay open till 2 a.m., but the health unit declined.
The petition at Change.org had less than 1,200 signatures on it as of Tuesday evening.
The current guidelines from the Ontario Ministry of Health can be found on its official website.
---with files from Maureen Revait
