2 Friday, May 7, 2021 brooklintowncrier.com "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: 905.706.0482 Email: mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, May 21, 2021 Deadline: Friday, May 14, 2021 During COVID-19 dates are subject to change. Less than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson Can we limp...forward? Early last month, Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull hosted a Brooklin Small Business Roundtable on Zoom. It's purpose was to hear from local business owners on the tribulations they're facing and what, if anything, the feds could do about it. Those who attended spoke sometimes emotionally and a few with unsparing detail about their issues. Turnbull listened and took notes. Only one business owner got sidetracked, careening from complaint to complaint without asking a question which eventually Turnbull asked him to provide since that was the objective: to ask questions. By the end, with small business owners gasping for help, Turnbull slipped in commentary about universal basic income, a topic his government seems to be keen on. It was his one misstep, a digression everyone could have done without. Honestly, the roundtable left me upset and almost depressed. While I don't own a small business, I couldn't help but feel badly for those whose livelihoods are teetering on the brink. The Bercuson household has tried to support local businesses at every turn, the least we can do. (I am happy to advise on where to get the best chocolate chip cookies.) It also had me wondering what happens when all this fades. Will we ever get our downtown back to a semblance of what it was in the summer of 2019? My next thought was about what new businesses we could use here, a trickier undertaking in these times, to be sure, given Covid and the expansion of Brooklin north, further afield from downtown. Would it make sense to have a bakery much like what once existed? Why should we need to head up Lakeridge or into Whitby proper? My kingdom for a good Montreal-style bagel! A favourite spot in Ottawa was a Bank St. bike and skate shop with sales, repairs, used skates and marvelous skate sharpening. It didn't look like much, but still. This is an active community with many cyclists, runners, walkers and hockey folks. Is there a business case that could be made for this? A couple of years ago, locals in the entertainment field sought proper rehearsal and performance venues, an expensive undertaking. But, what if there was a small venue, perhaps doubling as another business, that could host small music performances, similar to Living Room Live (livingroomlive.ca) where artists perform in your home? In other words, a coffee house type of environment. This past winter, we drove to Port Perry for no other reason than to see buildings other than what's in the neighbourhood. We inched through its downtown strip of shops and found it all charming. No trucks rumbling along yet a fair amount of foot traffic. As the saying goes, "Some see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not." Let's take some moments to stand in downtown Brooklin and dream. Then go buy something. There are 17 400-Series Highways in Ontario The following have no tolls: All but 3 The following have tolls: 412, 418, 407 The following have tolls which are increasing: 407 from Brock Rd. east The following are in Durham Region: 412, 418, 407 (from Brock Rd. east)