No sympathy from B.C.’s premier for businesses defying vaccine passport rules
Posted September 23, 2021 5:39 pm.
Last Updated September 23, 2021 6:41 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – B.C.’s premier says he’s disappointed with restaurant owners and other businesses who are defying orders to demand proof of vaccination.
The head of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) has estimated 50 to 60 eateries across the province have been refusing to check vaccination status.
Premier John Horgan says naming and shaming restaurants isn’t the answer, noting more than 3-million British Columbians have downloaded their vaccine cards.
“I don’t believe wagging fingers is going to solve the problem,” he said. “What we need to do is remind those businesses that 3.1-million British Columbians is a really big part of the market. I would expect that the best way forward for a business is to make sure that they’re putting in place protocols to encourage that 3.1-million person market to come and patronize their establishment.”
The proof of vaccination program came into effect on Sept. 13 in B.C. The order requires people entering certain non-essential settings to show they have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“For those who want to skirt the rules either by disregarding the [vaccine] passports as a provider of non-essential services, there will be consequences for that,” he warned.
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The Ministry of Public Safety has told NEWS 1130 “compliance and enforcement action” is underway by multiple agencies in communities across the province.
Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BCRFA, says while he knows the province has started to quietly make moves on non-compliant businesses, he hasn’t heard of any getting closed as a result.
“The government will be very strategic in how it acts. It’s not going to be reckless, especially with their powers to levy a fine and/or close a business. That’s a very substantial penalty,” Tostenson told NEWS 1130, we likely won’t hear about many fines, for privacy reasons.
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Although the Ministry of Public Safety won’t share individual cases or circumstances of enforcement at this time, a restaurant in Fernie, in the East Kootenay has shared on social media that it was given a $2,300 fine from the RCMP for defying the order, adding it plans to fight it.
Read more: Where you need your B.C. vaccine card
Tostenson notes his organization has heard from compliant restaurants about those who are not. The BCRFA, he says, is sending that information to the province.
“When you have a business that seems to think they’re beyond whatever and they’re gonna serve a market of really anti-vaccine inclined people, that’s not fair. It’s just is not fair and business owners get really frustrated.”
Right now, any sort of proof of a vaccine dose is accepted, as long as someone also shows their government-issued ID. But, starting Sept. 27, only the BC Vaccine Card with ID will grant entry to places like restaurants. By Oct. 24 only patrons with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed entry.
“We’ve always said we don’t want a heavy hand here. We want common sense to prevail,” Horgan said.
“The best way forward is to get our vaccination numbers up. They’re already very, very high.”
