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From: Minister MLTSD (MLTSD) [mailto:[email protected]] 2 Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2020 12:16 PM To: Wenzler, Melissa <[email protected]> Subject: Response from the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Walter Sendzik Mayor, City of St. Catharines Brian York Director of Economic Development & Government Relations City of St. Catharines ℅ [email protected] Dear Mayor Sendzik and Mr. York: Thank you for your letter regarding the economic impact COVID-19 is having on the City of St. Catharines during this unprecedented time. Prior to entering elected politics, I worked at my family’s business and can appreciate the difficult decisions small business owners are facing. Ontario has developed a framework to guide our approach to reopening the province, and the Jobs and Recovery Committee is a key part of applying this framework. The committee will consult with people and businesses to assess the economic impacts of COVID-19 and learn about their unique needs. I am honoured to be a member of the committee and value the opportunity to represent workers and Ontario’s workforce development needs. I look forward to working with the other committee members on plans to get businesses back up and running and people back to work. My colleagues and I will work to get our economy moving again, with a focus on safe and healthy workplaces, job creation and opportunities for growth. By starting the recovery work early, acting decisively and working with our partners in other levels of government and the private sector, our province will recover. We were confident in Ontario’s future before COVID-19, and we remain confident now. Thank you again for writing. I appreciate you sharing your survey results with me. Sincerely, [Original signed by] Monte McNaughton Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development c: The Hon. Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade The Hon. Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance The Hon. Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries The Hon. Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction April 14, 2020 Hon. Monte McNaughton, M.P.P. Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development 14th Floor 400 University Ave. Toronto, ON M7A 1T7 Sent via email: [email protected] Dear Minister McNaughton, On behalf of the City of St. Catharines, we want to thank you for your leadership and unwavering support through this difficult period of our country’s history. As we take preventative measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, the economic disruption of this pandemic has had a devastating impact on businesses in St. Catharines across all sectors and the Niagara region as a whole. We are encouraged by your launch of the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee which will focus on getting businesses up and running and people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Here in St. Catharines our Economic Development team, along with our regional partners, initiated a COVID-19 Business Impact survey to measure and track the effects on our local economy to be able to represent their needs as accurately as possible and tailor recovery efforts appropriately. The results of this evidence-based impact survey, which had more than 2600 responses from businesses in the region (800 responses from St. Catharines), reported an estimated $576M regional ($76M St. Catharines) loss of revenue projected for the next 3 months. It is important to note that these numbers change by the day as new essential service orders are enacted to help flatten the curve. Industry sectors that rely on direct customer interaction, physical locations to conduct business, and those that rely on events and other forms of people gathering have experienced the most abrupt fall-out in regards to lost revenue. The response from our business community as demonstrated both in the survey and in our ongoing daily communications focused on the impacts of closures, lost revenues, overall loss of productivity, and fixed operating costs which continue to accrue. While many businesses are making difficult existential decisions, the message we have heard is simple: immediate financial relief is urgently needed to ensure their survival. While we fully support implementation of all measures recommended by public health officials, our data shows that business will require swift measures to ensure that these losses do not continue as we transition from rapid response to recovery efforts. We continue to work with our local businesses and will be surveying them again to monitor the ongoing impacts. St. Catharines and Niagara can and will contribute significantly to the recovery of our provincial economy and we welcome the opportunity to meet with the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee to discuss a path forward. Sincerely, Brian York Mayor Walter Sendzik Director of Economic Development & Government Relations cc: Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario Honourable Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Honourable Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board Honourable Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transport Honourable Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Honourable Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Honourable John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Honourable Laurie Scott, Minister of Infrastructure Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Honourable Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services Honourable Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction Honourable Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Minister of Indigenous Affairs Jennie Stevens, Member of Provincial Parliament Jeff Burch, Member of Provincial Parliament Sam Oosterhoff, Member of Provincial Parliament Wayne Gates, Member of Provincial Parliament .