Only shut down restaurants that break rules
It’s astounding that thousands of restaurants around the city (any city) are being forced to close indoor dining because of a few that flouted the rules thereby allowing the virus to spread (NOW Online, October 9).
A very high percentage of restaurants have very conscientiously stuck to the protocol and had no cases over many months. This is a very arbitrary decision and shows a distressing lack of foresight and understanding.
We were led to believe that one of the primary goals is to reopen the economy. Instead, we’re pushing most businesses to the edge of or into bankruptcy, and laying off thousands of employees.
You might have thought that the authorities could have handled the situation more intelligently and close only those that do not obey the protocols. This is not rocket science.
Chris Reid — From nowtoronto.com
Tale from one brief COVID food run
We face another onslaught of this dreadful pandemic, yet there are some who still do not take this situation seriously.
During one very brief food run recently, I observed people with no face covering whatsoever going into grocery stores and other public places. Some even bumped into me.
This type of behaviour demonstrates a lack of consideration for the community at large. More severe penalties should be put in place to deal with those who knowingly put themselves and the community at risk. After all, when they get sick medical resources have to be used to take care of them and those who are placed at risk might get sick and even die.
Retailers also need to be empowered by the government to take action against those who don’t follow the rules.
YN — Toronto
Not going with the FLOW
I get Steve Parsons’s rationale for dropping The Breakfast Club from FLOW 93-5 (NOW Online, October 10). It was unprofitable and licensing a top-rated show like The Breakfast Club can be costly.
But to state that his rationale for dropping the show was because the topics the hosts of The Breakfast Club we’re talking about, “didn’t match up with the culture of Toronto” is absurd.
Issues that affect the Black diaspora in the U.S. don’t just stop at the border. As much as we like to fool ourselves, Canada isn’t a racial utopia. We have our Canadian George Floyd. We have our Sandra Bland. Last week in Ottawa we had our Breonna Taylor. Parsons is part of the problem. He shouldn’t be programming for a hip-hop station.
Isac Hayden — From nowtoronto.com
Readers’ Choice social justice awards seem small-minded
Just want to say that I’m finding your inclusion of the best activist group and best activist in your Readers’ Choice awards a bit cringy.
Asking people to pit social justice based groups doing very diverse and equally important work against each other by making for a “winner” in such categories seems a far cry from simply restaurants or parks.
A less cringy move would be to simply highlight all of the social justice based organizations as equally important and not have them in competition with one another.
Casting a vote for whether Black Lives Matter and other racial justice groups are better than one another alongside voting for folks’ favourite pizza joint seems small-minded.
Natalie Boustead — Toronto
Another reason why Doug Ford may want an early election
Is Doug Ford Preparing To Call A Snap Election? (NOW, October 8-14). Doug & Co. want to reset the timer back two years to make savage cuts to social supports, privatize most of the TTC, sell off TVO and have another fire sale of government assets – all supposedly to justify paying for the deficit created by COVID-19.
After the cuts have been made and services dismantled, the cost of restoring things will be too prohibitive for any government to undertake. And, of course, Doug will crow about reducing the size of government, as he did when he was on Toronto city council. It will be Doug’s equivalent of Mike Harris’s demolition of the initial construction of the Eglinton West subway and filling in the hole.
Frederick Harrison — From nowtoronto.com
