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Opinion: We needs more sign telling anti-maskers not to ‘pout’ in B.C.

covid-19-anti-masker
A sign posted by a business. (via Twitter)

The Internet is often a wonderful place to find information. But it’s also a cesspool of misinformation, which has led to the rise of ill-informed anti-maskers.

Many businesses have had enough of these folks causing a stink when being told they need to put on a mask, be it a restaurant, coffee shop or grocery store.

So some have been posting awesome signs like the one embedded in this blog that tells people to not “pout” if they are required to wear a mask.

Customers are told to not “harass” the staff or called COVID-19 a “hoax.”

It’s an excellent message, but sad that such signs need to be posted when people should be pulling together to fight this pandemic.

We need more of these signs and messaging in B.C. to fight the anti-mask crowd.

This comes at a time when restaurants are struggling mightily due to COVID fears.

Business is down 20 to 30 per cent, according to Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

Patio season helped, but now the rainy weather has come back.

An increase in food deliveries has helped the industry stay afloat. However, according to Tostensen, the commission that delivery apps like Skip the Dishes and DoorDash charge can be anywhere from 25 to 30 per cent. Tostenson explained that this often means that the restaurant isn’t making any money at all. The restaurant industry is hoping that the provincial government will follow the lead of U.S. cities like Seattle and San Francisco which have capped these commission fees at 15 per cent for six months.

Because the delivery apps providers operate in an oligopoly, with only a few companies serving the market, they are able to raise prices to levels that make it unprofitable for restaurants to offer a delivery option. Tostensen said legislation is likely the best solution.

The industry has investigated creating its own made-in-B.C. food delivery app.

While it would make it possible to offer the delivery service at the lower commission fees, Tostenson said the difficulty would be moving traffic from the established multinational delivery companies to a local option. 

- with files from Business in Vancouver