Battle-weary Squamish business owners are cautiously optimistic about the provincial government's four-part B.C. restart plan announced on Tuesday.
The plan will be rolled out over the summer months in four tentative stages, dependent on specific parameters set out by B.C. health officials.
Travel restrictions will remain as they are for now, but restaurants are able to serve alcohol until 10 p.m., and have diners in groups of six or less in indoor spaces, a welcome respite after a no dine-in rule that has been in place for almost two months.
Starting June 15 at the earliest, liquor can be served until midnight, and dining rooms can reopen for up to 50 people.
Kerry Neil, the Downtown Squamish Business Improvement Association's executive director, said downtown businesses are thrilled that things are finally starting to open up.
"It's been a long time coming," she told The Chief. "Our downtown eateries are now open for inside and outside dining with COVID-19 safety plans in place, and we are looking forward to June 15, when they can open to indoor seated gatherings of up to 50 people. It will also be a welcome relief when the provincial travel restrictions are lifted on June 15, and we can welcome recreational travellers from within B.C. That will have a huge and very economical impact on all of our downtown businesses."
The restart plan also means low-impact fitness classes are allowed again, and high-intensity classes will be brought back in on June 15 at the earliest. This is good news to Steve Wilson, co-owner of Wild Life Gym, with his wife Tiera Wilson. The two have been adjusting and readjusting their practices according to changing protocols since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It feels fairly positive in terms of there being a plan and there being a light, finally, at the end of the tunnel. I feel positive that if people are vaccinated and not getting too carried away with the summer events, then we can get there," Wilson said. "That would be amazing because it's been a bit of a financial stress on myself and my wife and our coaches because we've had to reduce classes."
In response to the repeated closures at his gym and the resulting drop in memberships, the Wilsons even converted part of their space into a film studio, investing in camera, sound, and light equipment. Even with this addition of service, they are still operating at about 50% of their normal capacity.
"It seemed like the hardest part for us was just – you never really know. You kind of get into a groove, and then you shut down, and then it's like, all the stress, all the emails, trying to organize all that, and then you're kind of restarting again, you've got to start over. You never totally feel comfortable even if you are open for a bit; you're just wondering if you're going to shut down again."
But with vaccinations on the rise, Wilson does feel optimistic that this time the reopening will stick. They were able to hold on to their coaching staff as they were all-part time and had other gigs as well, and many were able to take advantage of the CERB program at the beginning of the pandemic.
"I'm optimistic that as things open up come September, it's going to be super busy, so we're happy to keep our staff because we're going to need them as we move forward into the future, as things open up.
For staff at Cloudburst and Locavore, the date circled on their calendar is July 1, when if case counts and hospitalizations continue to drop, and vaccinations in the 18-plus population reach 70%, all dining group limits will be lifted.
"That's the one we're looking forward to the most, when we're able to get to that point," said general manager Grace Dwight.
"It's been really difficult for my staff to try to police that [six person limit], especially with larger families, it's been pretty hard, with even babies included in that. That's been pretty tough, having to police that."
They've been lucky in their location, Dwight admits, because they have a lot of space and a big patio to still allow for a lot of seating, compared to some smaller businesses who have had to get even more creative with their pandemic-pivots, such as the cozy Counterpart Coffee, which has been without indoor dining since March of 2020.
"Our space is so small that basically, we wouldn't be able to go back to the way we were doing things before, until 'step four' part of the plan. Once everything is apparently back to normal, then we'll be able to reopen our seating, but not before then," said Counterpart co-owner Tim Knutton.
"That affects us in that, a big part of what brings people to us is that social vibe of a café. That's why you go to cafés, sort of vibing out with other people around, having a nice time. But given the construction of our space, we can't open that up until there are no more restrictions at all."
Knutton and partner Emily Lehnen pivoted early and have established a stable delivery service of their small-batch coffee, which Knutton says has been a lifeline through the pandemic and will likely continue post-pandemic — a surprise bonus of the restrictions, for them. While they are eager to get to stage four of the restart plan like everyone else, they also hope for caution through the summer, so the reopening can actually happen and they can go back to normal.
"I can understand that people are chomping at the bit to sort of come back to indoor seating in cafés and sitting on laptops and that kind of stuff, but for a lot of us, we feel like it's still risky times for the next little while, this is where we really need to put our heads down and focus on the goal and maintain those precautions so we can get to the goal earlier, and not start slacking off now, this is the worst time to slack off."
Mayor Karen Elliott echoed this optimistic caution.
"The phased-in Restart Plan for B.C. is very exciting news as we start to see the beginning of the end of this pandemic locally, but it's important that we not get ahead of ourselves as there are key factors such as case counts, vaccination rates and declining hospitalizations that need to be met in order to successfully transition between steps," Elliott said in a statement to The Chief.
"We have community members who lost much-loved family members and friends to this illness, so we can't lose sight of our collective responsibility to look out for each other in the weeks to come. What I hope people will consider is what we learned from the pandemic and what we need and want to carry through as we re-emerge and recover. Inequity was exposed during these last 15 months, and we see it still in where the pandemic continues to surge globally, so our work is not done. For me personally, I look forward to hugging my parents again when I get to travel to Alberta."
Elliott added that people will emerge from the pandemic in their own time and way.
"Some may be ready as we hit each stage of reopening while others may take more time to build up courage. I encourage everyone to go at your own pace — this has been a challenging time both mentally and physically. My hope is that some of the kindness and gratitude for all the essential workers who never stepped back throughout this whole pandemic, but stepped forward to support our community, will continue to be extended. Let's not lose sight of that."
Even with a sense of caution in the air, people are beginning to plan.
Cece Leclair, co-owner and manager of Cliffside Cider, says they are already getting inquiries about small wedding and party rentals for late summer.
One of the "lucky" establishments with a large patio to optimize during dine-in seating restrictions, a return to normal seems "surreal" to Leclair and her partners.
"Back to normal, we don't know what that even means anymore because the world has changed so much. But especially at our place, we're just really excited to see faces sitting back at our bar; that's normal to us."
The Squamish Chamber of Commerce was not able to respond to The Chief’s request for comment by press deadline.
