shockedcanadian
Diamond Member
- Aug 6, 2012
- 38,104
- 36,637
- 2,905
Canada in a nutshell.
"Vee just vant to know where zhou are going and vhat you are doing, yeah?"
www.thestar.com
Toronto’s bylaw bureaucracy has made running a curbside coffee stand a real grind for Anastasiia Alieksieichuk.
The 27-year-old former architect and interior designer fled the war in Ukraine two years ago, and in July started her company Wheels & Co. Beans in Etobicoke, selling coffee and baked goods from a trailer she tows behind her car.
To her surprise, she quickly ran afoul of the city’s street vending bylaws, a situation that has spurred a local councillor to ask council for help in fixing by passing a motion on Wednesday.
To run her business, Alieksieichuk needs both a “nonmotorized refreshment vehicle” licence — which she has — but also a “mobile vending” permit in order to operate on designated streets.
But because her trailer does not have a motor, she can’t get that necessary permit.
“They consider me a cart, something that cannot move,” said Alieksieichuk. “But I move around the city as much as the food trucks.”
Alieksieichuk said she tried to explain the situation to municipal licensing and standards, but was told the rules don’t allow for her to operate as she does.
“So many people shut the door in front of my face,” she said. “They told me ‘It’s impossible, nobody’s going to hear you, nobody’s going to change anything for you.’”
In Etobicoke, a complaint was filed against her and she was fined $500. Three weeks later she moved her operation downtown to avoid more “drama.”
"Vee just vant to know where zhou are going and vhat you are doing, yeah?"
She wants to sell coffee from her curbside trailer. Instead she’s been ground down by the city’s baffling bylaws
City council is being asked this week to allow a pilot project that would let a curbside coffee trailer operate in downtown Toronto.
www.thestar.com
Toronto’s bylaw bureaucracy has made running a curbside coffee stand a real grind for Anastasiia Alieksieichuk.
The 27-year-old former architect and interior designer fled the war in Ukraine two years ago, and in July started her company Wheels & Co. Beans in Etobicoke, selling coffee and baked goods from a trailer she tows behind her car.
To her surprise, she quickly ran afoul of the city’s street vending bylaws, a situation that has spurred a local councillor to ask council for help in fixing by passing a motion on Wednesday.
To run her business, Alieksieichuk needs both a “nonmotorized refreshment vehicle” licence — which she has — but also a “mobile vending” permit in order to operate on designated streets.
But because her trailer does not have a motor, she can’t get that necessary permit.
“They consider me a cart, something that cannot move,” said Alieksieichuk. “But I move around the city as much as the food trucks.”
Alieksieichuk said she tried to explain the situation to municipal licensing and standards, but was told the rules don’t allow for her to operate as she does.
“So many people shut the door in front of my face,” she said. “They told me ‘It’s impossible, nobody’s going to hear you, nobody’s going to change anything for you.’”
In Etobicoke, a complaint was filed against her and she was fined $500. Three weeks later she moved her operation downtown to avoid more “drama.”
Maybe the S.I.C will leave me alone one day soon too? 
