whistler business owners are well attuned to the fluctuations in sales that come with navigating the seasonal cycle of any tourist town. But never have resort entrepreneurs had to face the level of uncertainty that the COVID-19 global pandemic has created.
"All the information we're getting is for the next few weeks, while some of our businesses, we're trying to plan whether we are going to keep them open, whether they are going to permanently close, and it's very difficult to do that when we're only finding out information in small pieces," said Priyanka Lewis, owner-operator of the Brickworks Public House, 3 Below and Main Street Noodles.
Lewis was one of more than a dozen Whistler entrepreneurs who joined a virtual tourism townhall meeting last week with local MLA Jordan Sturdy and the Liberals' official opposition co-critic for tourism, Michelle Stilwell.
While the challenges resort business owners are facing may differ in the specifics, they all appear to be united in their desire for more economic certainty as they head towards what will likely be a slow fall period.
"I'm aware that we could have a more successful July and August than we think we might, but no matter what, October, November, etc. is still going to be stressful, and we haven't had our normal summer business that would carry us through that," said Sonia Kniehl, GM of O&R Entertainment, which operates a number of local bars and eateries, including Amsterdam Café, La Brasserie and Harajuku Izakaya.
Knowing how long they'll be able to rely on the federal emergency wage subsidy is one timeline local business owners are desperate to pin down. Particularly for those working within the slim margins of the restaurant industry, the subsidy has been essential in keeping business afloat.
"Right now what is keeping us alive is the wage subsidy, and [that] has been great in many ways," said Pepe Barajas, owner-operator of La Cantina, Mexican Corner and Clean Perfect, who added that the subsidy has given him an opportunity to reinvest in his staff at a time when he has to compete with the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which was just extended this week by another two months.
"It's hard to compete with for some of us in the industry, especially when your alternative is getting a cheque and going mountain biking—that's a highly attractive option," Sturdy said, who also owns North Arm Farm in Pemberton. "That has been passed on to our member of parliament, and I'm sure others in the federal government. We're all having trouble, I think, bringing people back, extending hours, and giving people more hours because they're bumping up against the CERB."
Barajas believes the employer wage subsidy needs to be extended until at least the end of the year, if not the end of the 2020-21 ski season, for many Whistler businesses to remain viable.
For Lewis, who has pivoted the model at Brickworks Public House to include a chip wagon, Dec. 1 has historically been the date she targets knowing if she can survive until then, the holiday rush will help see her through future lean months.
"That is my key date every year, Dec. 1. If we make it through that date, we make it to Jan. 1, because you know Jan. 1 you're getting that income from the last two weeks of December," she explained. "So all my decision-making right now for what businesses I will keep open and what businesses I will potentially close is based on the financial aid we're going to be able to get."
On the provincial side, resort entrepreneurs would like Victoria to consider a relaxing of Employer Health Tax (EHT) payments, something the Liberals have also pushed for in the house.
"There's no way we can afford EHT bills right now," Barajas noted.
A 2.925-per-cent tax applied to employers whose annual payroll remuneration is between $500,000 and $1.5 million, the tax doesn't accurately reflect the reality of small business, Sturdy argued.
"EHT is a particular irritant," he said. "To be a bit more partisan, I have had a huge problem with it because it just demonstrates to me a real disconnect and lack of understanding of business. The concept is that a big payroll equals big profit. In the service sector, in the agricultural sector, that is just fundamentally not true. But that is the premise on which EHT is built."
