Local business needs your support

The inequities behind the latest COVID-19 lockdown of unessential business in parts of the GTA is likely the final nail in the coffin for most small enterprises.

It’s hard to fathom a plan that allows large box stores to remain open and smaller stores selling many of the same items only on a lesser scale being forced to shut. There are guidelines in place that limit the number of people and distance between shoppers, no matter the size of business, essential or not. We all wear masks and our hands are getting raw from hand sanitizer. To discriminate based on size and what’s offered in the isles is a mediocre plan that fails small business, the backbone of the country’s economy.

Here in Oshawa, we are at least spared the lockdown for now as we migrate into the Red Zone. This means that we have tighter restrictions but most businesses can remain open.

A new campaign has been launched in the city to bring awareness to the plight of local businesses. It couldn’t come at a better time.

The Oshawa Loves Local campaign urges residents to support local businesses through the next six weeks as we approach Christmas.

The Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force and the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce are working together to tell residents about the smaller community-owned and family-led businesses, which create the majority of 70,000-plus jobs across the city.

That’s a lot of jobs. And now it’s up to us to help keep those jobs alive through what is typically the time of year when most businesses make a lot of their income to help keep them afloat through the more meagre January and February months.

The hashtag #OshawaLovesLocal can be used to tag local businesses online and to help spread the word about a small business close to you.

Let’s keep Oshawa’s economy alive and healthy. Support local.