Chef John Sinopoli speaks of the imminent threats on the Canadian hospitality sector brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s no two ways about it, due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the Canadian hospitality sector is facing an unprecedented existential crisis, one that could see tens of thousands of establishments across the country close their doors for good. The repercussions for the national economy, the real estate market, and indeed Canada’s social fabric would be simply catastrophic.
Seeing this imminent devastation of the sector, veteran restaurateur John Sinopoli, along with his business partner at Ascari Hospitality Group, Erik Joyal, and Andrew Oliver, President of the O&B Group, formed SaveHospitalityCA, a collective advocacy group to pressure all levels of government into providing urgently needed support for restaurants and supppliers in these dark days.
We sat down with John via Zoom to get an idea of his organisation’s asks of the federal, provincial, and local governments, and how he sees a way forward through these extremely challenging times…
To learn more about how we can collectively come together, visit SaveHospitalityCA.
If you are an employee impacted by layoffs or someone who understands the value of local restaurants and bars, please visit saveyourlocal.ca and sign the petition to show your support.
If you are having trouble viewing this video please click here.
Edinburgh-born/Toronto-based Sommelier, consultant, writer, judge, and educator Jamie Drummond is the Director of Programs/Editor of Good Food Revolution… And he now understands that the window of opportunity for the government to act is rapidly running out.
I just saw John’s discussion with Vassey on CBC just now. Great that he has solutions and isn’t just whining. Good plans to move forward. Cash flow during the shutdown is a key focus.
I expect there are others like myself that want to help. I’d be willing to buy my next meal at a restaurant now in order to provide some cash flow for John’s effort to manage. Not a perfect solution, but is one of many that will be needed to get us through all this. Let me know if there is something as a consumer that I can do.