WINDSOR, ONT. -- The lawyer for the owners of a popular downtown restaurant is looking closely into the “Protecting Small Business Act” (PSBA) hoping it will help his clients.
Mei Wung was evicted from her restaurant at the corner of Wyandotte St and Victoria Avenue earlier this month.
A letter posted on the door says they owe their landlord $22,000.
Now, the Provincial government has passed legislation that will retroactively “pause” commercial evictions of businesses hard hit by the pandemic.
Antoine D’Ailly tells CTV News he’s not sure if the Act will even apply to his clients because it is for businesses that were eligible for rent assistance.
In their news release, the Province encourages small businesses to sign up for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CERCA).
But goes on to say this Provincial “pause” on evictions is for small businesses not enrolled in CECRA, “as the program requires landlords to enter into a rent reduction agreement with their impacted small business tenants and commits them to a moratorium on evictions for three months.
In a statement to CTV News, Alvin Chan, paralegal for the landlord says “all we could generally comment is that the PSBA (recently passed) is unfortunately not applicable in this eviction.”
D’Ailly maintains they are hopeful they can find some sort of agreement or possibly a court-ordered adjudication to see the restaurant reopen.
