- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

Businesses have a responsibility to their customers and to the communities in which they operate. In the winter, we expect them to shovel their snow and salt their sidewalk. At night, we expect them to light their parking lot.

Now we are in different times. The temperature went over 30 degrees today, with high humidity and UV index. It was the second day of retail re-opening in Ontario, and people were anxious to buy bathing suits and shorts.

But we are still in a state of emergency. A dangerous pandemic. And two-metre distancing is still the advice of health officials all over North America.

What is the responsibility of a corporation that did $4.03 BILLION US dollars in sales in Canada last year to provide their local managers with staff, signage, awnings, tape – to keep their customers and community safe?

We have contacted the company for comment on exactly those questions.

In the meantime, we have posted this picture NOT to shame our neighbours whose children have outgrown last year's summer clothes – and we discourage you from making any such comments.

But we do see it as our responsibility to hold these businesses accountable – just as we would if people were slipping on un-shovelled sidewalks or feeling un-safe in an unlit parking lot.

We are not just their cash machines – we are their bread and butter.