Declare thrift stores essential, Ottawa woman urges province

An Ottawa woman who lives on a low incomeis calling on the province to designate thrift stores as an essential serviceso they can be open during times of lockdown.

Catherine Gardner recently wrote an open letter to Premier Doug Ford, saying the pandemic has created financial hardships for people who may not be able to afford goods at places that are allowed to be open.

"There's a lot of people like myself who are low income that ... get our things from [thrift stores]," Gardner said in an interview with CBC News.

"I'm waiting for the thrift stores to open up again so that I can look for another pair of shoes. I can't afford to go to Wal-Mart or Costco to buy brand new," she said.

Gardner's experience is by no means a unique one, said Gwen Madiba, president of Equal Chance, anorganization that works to create opportunitiesfor members of the Black community in Canada.

Madiba said she's heard fromclients and community members who've been unable to access itemslike blankets orwinter boots for their children because thrift stores are currently closed.

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"I think that the reason why these thrift stores, in my opinion, were built in the first place was to assist low-income families to give them a good chance at getting items at a lower cost," Madiba said.

"[Closing them] does deprive some members of the community [from finding]essential and important resources."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade said Ontario businesses prohibited from allowingin-person shopping can still offercurbside pickup and delivery.

'Not an option'

But that's not possible for manythrift stores, given theyhave a constantly rotating selection of items for sale, said Ted Troughton, managing director of national recycling operations for Salvation Army thrift stores.

"It's not an option in our stores because ... the intent of a thrift store is really to come in. It's not that we have standard inventory," he said.

"We have unique items every day, and it's always changing. So ... not having an online presence to do curbside, to try and accommodate that in a safe and effective way [just isn't]feasible."

Over the course of the pandemic, the Salvation Army'sstores have seen manynew customers, Troughton said. They've alsofielded many calls during the current Ontario lockdown about when they might reopen.

As for Gardner, she said the province sent her an automated response, noting thatthey read all emails and letters. She hopes her message helps them to think more broadly about what businesses might be considered essential.

"[There are] a lot of people through this pandemic that have lost their jobs," she said."Maybe the CERB money is fine for some people, but $2,000a month is not great for a lot of other people."