‘I am not alone’: Support floods in for North Vancouver café after vaccine passport confrontation

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A café in North Vancouver is being flooded with support after video posted online showed a man confront the owner over the proof of vaccination requirement last month.

Surveillance footage shared on social media shows a man walking by Kenaize Cafe and then stopping to ask if proof of vaccine is required to dine in.

“Hey. Hey. Do you require the vaccine to eat in here?” the man is heard saying, before he tapped on the window to draw the owner’s attention.

“You write on here in order for customers to eat, you need to have vaccine. Is this correct?” the man continued.

When that was confirmed to be the case, the man proceeded to tell the Chinese-Canadian owner it’s a problem because “we’re not in China,” while asking for the business operator’s name.

“Sir, I will be coming here with a news station, thank you,” the man concluded, before walking away.

“The key point is he was asking me for my name and then telling me this is not in China. I feel very insulted,” Kenaize Cafe owner Ken Tan recalled. “I was alone, I didn’t get close to him.”

Currently, people are required to show proof of at least one vaccine to access certain services, events, and businesses, such as licensed restaurants.

Tan says he’s just following the rules, and notes when B.C.’s mask mandate first came down, he also faced some challenges.

“They have no authority at all,” he said of members of the public who feel they can unleash their frustrations on business owners like himself. “We are trying to do our part to stop this pandemic… We are trying our best to keep my customers, my family safe by following the health orders.”

“I understand from this regulation, if I don’t do anything at all, they can fine me up to $2,000,” Tan continued, adding, “For me, that’s a lot of money. How can I do that?”

However, he says it’s ultimately not even about the money — he says he’s following health orders because he wants to do his part to bring this pandemic to an end.

Support through tips, business

Despite the uneasy feeling the interaction left him with, Tan says an outpouring of support from people who saw the video has him feeling very appreciated.

“A lot of people left messages and comments on the site,” Tan told NEWS 1130, adding many have even left tips of $20 or $30 in the wake of the confrontation.

“Even someone called us from New West. He said, ‘I know your café. It’s too far for me to go there. Just charge me for 50 bucks and then let homeless people have a meal,'” he recalled.

“There are a lot of people supporting us,” Tan said. “I am not alone.”

Related articles: 

• Flood of complaints about masks, vaccines causing major delays at BC Human Rights Tribunal

• B.C. Vaccine Card: What users, businesses need to know

• No sympathy from B.C.’s premier for businesses defying vaccine passport rules

Many people have expressed their support online, vowing to stop by to grab a bite to eat.

“It would be fantastic for us to all go and give this place a massive business bump, like lines forming out the door and then it gets covered in the actual news,” one person wrote on reddit.

“Don’t forget your vaccine card!” another user added.

“Alright redditors, time to support a local business,” reads a third comment.