TORONTO — An Etobicoke restaurant flouting provincial orders by offering indoor dining to customers amid a lockdown in Toronto has been ordered to close by the city’s medical officer of health.
On Monday, Toronto and Peel Region officially entered a 28-day lockdown, forcing restaurants to close their patios and keep indoor dining rooms shuttered.
Restaurants can still offer takeout and delivery during the lockdown.
But the owner of Adamson Barbecue, which has locations in both Etobicoke and Leaside, took to Instagram on Monday to confirm his plans to reopen despite the provincial restrictions.
”Why we are getting singled out and the big, multinational corporations are all essential,” Adam Skelly, the owner of Adamson Barbecue, said in a post on Instagram.
“Come on guys. Enough is enough. We’re opening.”
On Tuesday, customers lined up outside the Etobicoke restaurant and patrons could be seen dining inside the restaurant shortly after it opened at 11 a.m.
Mayor John Tory told reporters Tuesday that he did not yet have the circumstances of the Adamson incident before him, but said the move to defy the lockdown was a “political statement,” and the owner should “perhaps know better.”
“This is a duly passed regulation put in place by the Government of Ontario to help address a very acute health pandemic, COVID-19, and there has to be respect shown to those laws and regulations by everybody,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck here in terms of people showing respect for those rules, whether or not they agree with them.”
Dozens of supporters gathered outside the business on Tuesday afternoon and a worker in a City of Toronto truck was also spotted honking and giving the thumbs up to people outside the restaurant.
Police arrived on scene shortly after the restaurant opened and Toronto police Insp. Tim Crone said bylaw and public health officials also attended and documented that it was open against public health orders.
“Right now it’s not allowed to stay open – most likely there will be enforcement action taken later this week,” he said.
He said officers were on scene just to ensure public safety but would not be physically hauling away anyone gathered inside or outside the restaurant.
“By the sheer number of people who are here right now, we don’t have the ability to go in and physically remove everyone at this point and it would be unsafe to do so.”
He urged other businesses not to follow suit and flout the law, as frustrated as they might be.
“I would discourage similar activity because it is unlawful – it is against the Reopening of Ontario Act.”
Police, however, returned to the establishment late Tuesday afternoon after Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa used her powers to issue an order forcing it to close.
The city has not said if Skelly will be fined but individuals who violate the province’s emergency orders could face fines of anywhere from $750 to $100,000.
“He is getting the order now. I am sure he is getting a hefty fine, I think it should be a big one and we will see what happens from there,” Mark Grimes, who is the city councillor for the area, told CP24. “He is going to get a very clear message that this is unacceptable.”
‘I can’t get angry at any businessperson,’ Ford says
When asked about the situation at Adamson Barbecue on Tuesday afternoon, Premier Doug Ford said he just wants “the guy to shut down.”
“I can’t get angry at any businessperson. They are hurting right now and they are struggling and they are doing everything they can to stay afloat. But you know if we let everyone open, we are going to be in worse shape,” Ford told reporters at a news conference.
“They have to follow the rules. There can’t be rules for one group and not the other and I just wish that they’d just follow the rules.”
When Ford was asked why he has been so quick to condemn others who break the rules but not businesses, the premier said large private parties are “a different ball of wax.”
“I’m not going to get up here and start pounding on a small business owner when the guy is holding on by his fingernails,” Ford said.
“I differentiate between someone at home being reckless and having 100 people over and partying… I don’t condone that he opened up but I feel terrible. My heart breaks for these guys and it’s not fair. But please, in saying all that, you’ve got to follow the protocols and the guidelines.”
