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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 11 ,2 02 0 | 4 atlascare.ca 1-833-682-0033 Minding our mental health Like many people, I have had to deal with increased stress and anxiety during the pandemic. I have been fortunate to draw on the strengths of a strong family, friends, and caring team members while bringing my strengths to them, too. I also understand not everyone has a strong support system. Throughout the pandemic, we have monitored the mental health of the AtlasCare team and enhanced our Employee Assistance Program to include online physical and mental health support. We have also spoken with or visited hundreds of customers and have heard their worries. More challenges lie ahead, and we will continue to be attentive to the mental health needs of our staff, customers, and neighbours. Here are a few resources available for anyone in need of mental health support. A full list of community supports is on our website. If you or someone you know is in life-threatening crisis, call 911. Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 kidshelpphone.ca The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 1-800-463-2338 camh.ca Crisis Services Canada 1-833-456-4566 crisisservicescanada.ca We all need help sometimes. Reach out when you need to. We're in this together. Michael Grochmal, President Halton is fighting to stop businesses from being evicted for not being able to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regional council passed a unanimous motion May 20 that urges the Ontario government to freeze com- mercial evictions for the duration of the province's declared emergency and up to 30 days following the conclusion of the order. The resolution from Oakville Coun. Jeff Knoll and Mayor Rob Burton also calls on the federal and provincial governments to resolve barriers to partici- pation in the Ontario-Can- ada emergency commer- cial rent assistance initia- tive and launch the pro- gram immediately. "Unfortunately, every day that goes by there are more notices of possession placed on front doors of businesses," said Knoll. "They (provincial and fed- eral governments) need to act, they need to freeze evictions, and they need to get the commercial rent program in play today and stop deferring it." Knoll said he's been a "zealot" on this issue and has had pushback from landlords who say they have bills to pay too. "Many landlords are very reasonable, but there are many who just are not," he said. "They need to not be able to evict tenants while we get this under control." Milton Coun. Colin Best said he's heard some "real horror stories" in down- town Milton about land- lords who are unwilling to apply for the rent assis- tance program. "We have downtown businesses that are basi- cally going to be closing," he said. The federal and provin- cial government rent pro- gram, which was expected to be operational by mid- May, will lower rent by 75 per cent for eligible small businesses that have been affected by COVID-19. According to the Cana- da Mortgage and Housing Corporation website, the portal for landlords to ap- ply is now set to open on May 25. The initiative will pro- vide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50 per cent of rent pay- ments for April, May and June. The loans will be forgiv- en if the landlord agrees to reduce the eligible small business tenants' rent by at least 75 per cent for the three corresponding months un- der a rent forgiveness agree- ment, which will include a term not to evict the tenant during that period. The motion passed by regional council emphasiz- es that Halton businesses are "suffering catastrophic losses of revenue" during the pandemic due to a re- duced demand for products and services, or by being forced to close by provin- cial orders, leaving them unable to pay expenses, in- cluding rent. It also highlights the struggles the food service industry is enduring, with Restaurants Canada re- porting that 10 per cent of the country's restaurants permanently closed by the end of March and 50 per cent of those remaining are at risk of failure, partly due to their lack of ability to pay rent. The resolution will now be circulated to all levels of government, the Associa- tion of Municipalities of Ontario and Federation of Canadian Municipalities. REGION PUSHES FOR BUSINESS EVICTION FREEZE DURING PANDEMIC Regional council says Halton businesses are "suffering catastrophic losses of revenue" during the pandemic, leaving them unable to pay rent. Torstar file photo MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com NEWS "We have downtown businesses that are basically going to be closing." - Councillor Colin Best