Closure of Emma's Eatery in Eastern Passage blamed on red tape

A restaurant in Nova Scotia's Eastern Passage is closing, and the owner blames red tape and difficult staff.

Kim Stacey owned and operated Emma's Eatery for nine years, but announced on Facebook this week that she's closing it.

"I wasn't expecting the kind of response that I've received from that Facebook post," she said Wednesday.

The post blamed the "systematic discrimination" against Eastern Passage by all three levels of government. "Not to mention the frustrating new generation of workforce who believe they are entitled to be paid dearly to customize their own schedules and around their social activities and hobbies and cellphone use at the expense of the business," Stacey wrote.

Speaking to CBC Radio's Mainstreet, Stacey said her part of the Halifax Regional Municipality doesn't get a fair deal.

"The tax dollars are going into the government, but they're not really equally driving traffic tourist-wise, or just exposure," she said. "If they don't know it's there, they're not going to come out."

She said the reporting requirements for a small business are unreasonable, as are the tax obligations. "What we're giving to our economy and our community, we're really not getting anything back."

Construction project slows business

She said municipal construction projects in Eastern Passagereduced access to her business."There's no recouping of the losses."

Stacey said she has a room full of boxes she needs to handle for permits, registration, fees and taxes. "You find yourself spending most of your time adhering to administrative requirements and not growing your business."

She praised her staff in general, but said it's hard to get "the new generation" to look away from their phones and focus on their jobs. "When they're reading that cellphone their focus on productivity is not there."

Stacey said getting personal news at work reduces their productivity.

"I'm finding that young people are really coming in with this expectation that businesses are supposed to accommodate their personal lives."

Stacey said she tried to negotiate with staff, but "unfortunately the employees don't want to negotiate. They want to take certain times off to meet social requirements."

But they didn't put work first, making it hard to retain staff.

Stacey said she knows many owners of small businesses struggle.

"I knew statistically that I would probably fail. I went in knowing that's the reality," she said.

She had "bigger visions" for growing it, but those weren't met. She considers it a success for reaching the nine-year mark.

As the sole owner and chef, she said the administrative requirements added up. "You need to have the co-operation of your community, your government, your employees ... or else it's impossible."