Yes, it's a full-stop yes. It feels very much like death by a thousand cuts, and even in the best of times pre-apocalypse restaurants operate in a razor-thin profit margin. They make, on average, maybe 4%, and I think what most Canadians don't know is that for every $10 spent on a restaurant meal, the food service establishment keeps less than 50ยข. The rest all goes back into the economy. All of these minuscule taxes, whether it's the alcohol excise tax or an increase in CPP, it's this death by a thousand cuts. When we have that mountain of debt behind us after two-plus years of making those ends meet, even if we can open the doors now, we literally can't afford to keep the lights on.
On May 6th, 2022. See this statement in context.