About the Episode

Perhaps no industry has been hit harder by Covid-19 than the hospitality industry, and even as businesses reopen there is no avoiding the massive challenges that still exist for restaurants, cafes bars and the places where people have always gathered to eat, drink and socialize.

But in the midst of crisis we came across a story of innovation and hope developing in Hamilton. This week we speak to Jason Cassis, founder and partner of Equal Parts Hospitality Inc which owns some of Hamilton’s best known eateries, about the experience of having to shut down operations almost overnight as Covid hit, and his new venture Mamma Rossa Italian Kitchen (mammarossa.ca) – a new type of restaurant that has no physical location and sells exclusively through Uber Eats.

You’ll definitely want to hear Jason describe his experience facing unprecedented challenges, but also stories of positivity and pride in how his community and Canada as a whole has responded to the events of 2020.

Later in the episode, Roland and Joel discuss the crisis in Burlington’s planning department, and the reasons it appears to have reached breaking point. Elsewhere, the province’s interventions are making good planning by municipalities extremely difficult to achieve, reducing local democracy to a sideshow.

Joel provides an update on the latest on the province’s back to school plans. With just two weeks left, Halton Catholic District School Board has now issued it’s plan (https://learnathome.hcdsb.org/return-to-school-2/). Halton Public School Board submitted a letter politely rebuking the Stephen Lecce’s constantly changing plans and the lack of funding they are receiving to do an incredibly challenging job.

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