New Westminster is advocating for the creation of a provincial hospitality ministry to support the struggling restaurant sector.
Coun. Ruby Campbell presented council with a motion to be taken to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association for consideration at the 2024 annual general meeting and conference.
The motion calls on the province to create a Ministry of Hospitality to support and engage restaurants, food-service vendors and the hospitality sector by acting as advocates within government for policy development and reform.
Campbell said the creation of a hospitality ministry is one of the requests in the Save BC Restaurants' campaign, was recently launched by the British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association and Restaurants Canada.
“It's aimed at raising awareness of the challenges facing B.C. restaurants and the food-service vendors and calls for policy change to help the struggling sector,” she said. “Restaurants are at the heart of our community in this province. Their $18 billion in annual sales play key role in supporting B.C. workers, families and vital industries such as agriculture, transportation, and tourism.”
There are there are currently 225 restaurants with business licenses in New Westminster, which is an increase of 45 restaurants (or 20 per cent) from before the COVID pandemic, Campbell said.
“I was really keen to support this Save BC Restaurants campaign, because I want to ensure that we continue to build a strong industry of restaurants in New Westminster,” she said. “And we need to support them in a way that we can encourage the sustainability and encourage growth.”
According to Campbell, the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce has expressed support for the motion.
Campbell’s motion passed 4-2, with support coming from her Community First New West colleagues (Mayor Patrick Johnstone and Coun. Tasha Henderson) and former Community First member Coun. Nadine Nakagawa. New West Progressive councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas voted against the motion.
Fontaine said the Number 1 tool cities have to attract, retain and ensure restaurants are vibrant is to keep their costs down, and this can be done by keeping property tax increases low.
Saying he and Minhas have both owned restaurants in the past, Fontaine said “the last thing” restaurant owners need is another ministry and bureaucracy to deal with. He said he’s hard-pressed to believe there’s a groundswell of support among restaurant owners calling for a new ministry but feels they would likely be telling the city to take actions such as keeping property taxes down, making sure triple net leases aren’t going up exponentially every year, and making sure the streets are safe,
“I just don't think the general restaurant community is going to be asking for a Ministry of Hospitality with a whole new bureaucracy created,” he said.
Minhas said he agreed with all the points made by Fontaine.
“Us as business owners, especially in the restaurant industry, we are not looking for more bureaucracy,” he said. “Time is of the essence. For us, the longer a project takes through bureaucracy, it's even more challenging.”
“Unhappy hour” in B.C. restaurants
The Save BC Restaurants campaign states that long-term impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and out-of-control cost increases has meant that it is “unhappy hour” for B.C. restaurants, leaving many businesses, and those relying on them, struggling to make ends meet.
“We don‘t want this to be the last call for B.C. restaurants. With fair and sensible policy change, government can play a key role in turning the tables,” said the campaign. “We’ve prepared this menu to outline the issues facing restaurants today and the steps that can be taken to address them.”
The campaign’s Unhappy Hour “menu” outlines some of the issues facing restaurants today: acute, continued labour shortages; supply chain disruptions; large pandemic-related debt levels; skyrocketing inflationary cost pressures; reduced guest traffic compared to pre-pandemic; and long-term impacts from floods and wild fires.
Other concerns from those in the industry include: commercial landlord rent increases; “ever-increasing” property taxes; “skyrocketing” transportation costs; the availability of affordable housing (impacts ability to find local workers); parking fees (a disincentive to patrons); crime and safety challenges; long and unclear wait times for licenses and permits; complex approvals for patios; and out-of-date liquor laws.
The campaign’s “takeaway menu” includes 15 actions that can be taken by municipal and provincial governments. This includes a recommendation (for consideration by the province and cities) to hire experts and appoint a minister of hospitality, with the idea being that a person within government would have a role to engage with and develop policies to support the hospitality sector.
The campaign’s other recommendations for municipalities include: clearly defining approval times; streamlining permanent patio approvals; directing enforcement agencies and staff to work with establishments before issuing fines and penalties; and opposing price increases for “supply-managed goods” such as chicken.
Campbell said the Save BC Restaurants' campaign has directly asked for the creation of a Ministry of Hospitality.
“I support industry, I support industry professionals, and that is where the advocacy has come from,” she said. “They have asked municipalities and the province to support their advocacy. And one of them is specifically asking for a Ministry of Hospitality.”
Henderson said the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association represents 3,000 restaurants in B.C. and Restaurants Canada represents 30,000 restaurants across the country.
“So in terms whether businesses and restaurants are supporting this, I would say that there are 33,000 of them who are,” she said.
Of the list of things being recommended by the Save BC Restaurants campaign, Fontaine said the creation of a government ministry likely isn’t the Number 1 thing that should go to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association for its consideration. He said “there’s a whole plethora” of things being requested by the campaign that won’t be dealt with by a Ministry of Hospitality, which is why he couldn’t support the motion.
At the Feb. 26 meeting, council also supported a motion put forward by Henderson, which is to ask the province to provide local governments with the legislative authority to enable special economic zones where commercial rent control and demo/renovation policies could be applied. It will also be taken to the LMLGA conference for its consideration.
