'It's not fair': calls for indoor dining and gyms to be included in Step 2 of reopening

Windsor, Ont. -

As many businesses get set to open their doors in Step 2 of Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopening, there are two major sectors that must remain closed.

The Ontario government announced Step 2 will begin on Wednesday, June 30, but indoor dining is not allowed and indoor gyms can't open either.

“It’s not fair, I feel like there’s a war going on against the fitness industry. It makes zero sense to me,” says GoodLife member Shaylene Lev.

GoodLife Fitness president and COO Jane Riddell says they have had meetings with public health and different levels of government to educate them on how safe the clubs are. GoodLife has also submitted several proposals.

“We’ve been lobbying the provincial government to allow us to reopen at 25 per cent capacity in Step 2,” says Riddell. “As we all heard last week, our request has fallen on deaf ears.”

GoodLife sent an email to all Ontario members, asking them to contact MPPs and let them know that they want indoor fitness to be included in Step 2.

There are three GoodLife Clubs and three Fit4Less locations in Windsor, with 200 Associates and over 20,000 members.

Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield says his office has received at least 30 emails to reopen indoor fitness.

GoodLife gyms are now open in every other province, in fact Riddell says Ontario is the only jurisdiction in North America that doesn’t allow indoor fitness.

“In Saskatchewan and British Columbia we’ve never closed our clubs,” says Riddell. “Ontario is far, far behind the other provinces in terms of allowing gyms to reopen or stay open.”

INDOOR DINING REMAINS CLOSED

Ontario restaurants owners are in the other sector hoping for more movement in Step 2. Other provinces allow indoor dining at various restriction levels.

Indoor dining rules

The only change under the current Ontario roadmap is patios are allowed to seat groups of six people, instead of four.

“We were surprised indoor dining isn’t included in Step 2,” says Toast restaurant co-owner Mina Hermiz. “We read the guidelines ahead of time, so we did expect it.”Toast restaurant on Erie Street in Windsor, Ont., on Monday, June 28, 2021. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

Hermiz says her Erie Street breakfast and lunch restaurant will be able to serve way more customers when indoor dining is allowed in Step 3.

“I think we would be able to have about 30 to 40 people, whereas right now we only have about six to seven tables,” says Hermiz.

The province indicated Step 3 would likely be 21 days after Step 2, which would be on July 21.