Local business defies lockdown measures to stay afloat

By Sheila Gunn Reid
|
May 09, 2021

Fight The Fines

Reporting on and fighting the pandemic fines.

Do you remember the story of Mr Greens Novelties? The mom and pop shop is a cannabis accessories retailer in Sudbury, Ontario, owned and operated by Shawn and Daphne Donaldson.

We first met the couple when they chose to reopen their store in defiance of the Ford government’s lockdown on small businesses.

Since they weren’t a big box store, the Donaldsons were relegated to curbside pickup and online order sales. They couldn’t give the sort of in person customer service they think their customers deserve, especially in a new industry like theirs where people have a lot of questions.

Mr Greens was barely surviving the lockdown.

The Donaldsons had already made the tough decision to close their Val Caron location but they weren’t going to let the government euthanize their remaining shop in Sudbury. But when they reopened against the restrictions, they were slapped with thousands of dollars in lockdown fines.

They became Rebel News Fight The Fines clients and we were proud to help the plucky pair by connecting them with a top criminal lawyer to fight their fines in court at no cost to them.

But, even though they were punished for standing up to the government, the Donaldsons haven't stopped their activism for small businesses during the lockdown.

The lockdown tickets and police and health bureaucracy harassment directed at the Donaldsons haven’t stopped either. The Donaldsons join me today to update us on their battle to make entrepreneurism legal again in Ontario.

The Donaldsons are impossible not to like. Their optimism and love of their community is infectious however, business owners like them are losing hope every day during the lockdown, and when their businesses disappear so do their contributions to the towns and cities they live and work in.

If you would like to help us help the Donaldsons and over 1000 small business owners and people just like them hammered with lockdown tickets, please donate today at www.FightTheFines.com.

Your donations to Fight The Fines now qualify for a charitable tax receipt through The Democracy Fund, a registered Canadian charity.

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