With Ontario now days into the latest set of lockdown measures due to the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, some small business owners are speaking out and saying enough is enough.
Tanya Zouzal Markowski, the owner of Tantalize Tanning Lounge, took to social media this week to say that she wouldn't be closing her doors and instead continuing to operate at 50 per cent capacity inside.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Markowski wanted to clarify that her decision was made based on trying to provide for herself and her employees and not about anything else.
"I am not anti-vax, I am not anti-mask, this has absolutely nothing to do with any of that rhetoric," she explained. "What I am is a small business owner trying to survive."
It's been a difficult two years and counting for Markowski and business owners like her, and she says they've put in every protocol and procedure both to follow the rules and protect staff and customers alike.
Markowski says it's not fair when blanket restrictions are put in over entire industries.
"It's gotten to the point where we're lumped together and we're not in the beauty industry. Although they're safe as well, everyone is safe, we've taken procedures to make sure people are safe. Leave us alone, let us make a living. My poor employees, I cannot close because they have families and I'm responsible for them."
She says there's absolutely no way that they can take the financial hit again.
Markowski says she's willing to face whatever legal issues come her way as a result because she's resolute in fighting for her business and employees.
"I will have to stand fast in my stance and do what I have to do to make sure that everything that was built, that is Tantalize, stays Tantalize. I can't afford to lose any of it."
Markowski says since making the post online, she's received a ton of support from locals which has been heartwarming.
She says she can't believe the amount of people who have said they'll utilize their services, support them, and make sure that Tantalize and the team are taken care of.
- with files from AM800's The Morning Drive