Enforcement officials have yet to ticket a Vancouver Island business for defying provincial vaccine passport rules, according to the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety.
Last week, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth noted just three businesses in the province had been handed violation tickets and $2,300 fines for failing to enforce an order that requires customers to produce proof of vaccination before entering non-essential businesses such as restaurants and gyms.
This week, the ministry revealed the three businesses were from the Northern, Interior and Coastal health regions.
That comes as no surprise to Ian Tostenson, chief executive of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, who said places that don’t comply tend to follow the vaccination trends in their communities.
“There are more complaints of non-compliance in the Fraser Valley and some in Vancouver, but most are in northern B.C.,” he said, noting while the rate of fully vaccinated people on the Island is 82.7 per cent, it is less than 70 per cent in the north.
The province’s vaccination passport program, which took effect on Sept. 13, requires customers to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, sports venues, theatres and other higher-risk social and recreational events.
Despite early concerns that it would create problems for venues that were ordered to enforce the rules, it seems to have rolled out smoothly, with little pushback from the public.
A number of Victoria restaurateurs said most people have been happy to show their digital proof of vaccination. Some restaurants that had considered hiring security to deal with patrons at the front door have since decided to leave it to existing staff.
And most restaurants and other affected businesses seem willing to comply and demand vaccination proof of their customers.
Jeff Bray, chief executive of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, said given the high rate of vaccination in Victoria, it doesn’t seem to have been much of an issue. “People don’t seem to have a problem complying, downloading the app and then going to the gym or to a restaurant,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, it’s gone very well.”
Calls to police forces around Greater Victoria this week yielded no reports of complaints that restaurants were failing to check vaccination status.
“We have not been receiving many calls, if any, actually,” said Const. Alex Bérubé of West Shore RCMP. “We attend these calls on a priority basis and determine the seriousness of the contravention of the public health orders.
“Having said that, we’re mindful that vaccine cards are being newly introduced and public education and awareness is a major contributor to compliance. Therefore we continue to use a measured approach when dealing with calls related to COVID-19 non-compliance and are hopeful enforcement will not be required and that voluntary compliance and co-operation will be the norm.”
Tostenson said most restaurants know that the vaccination program is what’s keeping them open. But he is aware of several restaurants, mainly in the Interior and northern B.C., that are openly defying the orders.
Tostenson said the industry has taken matters into its own hands in dealing with non-compliant businesses.
“We have put between 75 and 100 restaurants that we know are openly defying it and passed it to government and they have gone into a three-stage process to deal with it,” he said.
The Public Safety Ministry said compliance and enforcement officers — police, liquor and cannabis inspectors, environmental health officers, gambling investigators, conservation officers and bylaw officers — can use education and raising awareness with businesses before resorting to tickets.
Tostenson said restaurants that continue to defy the orders are likely to be shut down.
While a lot of restaurants said early on that they would defy the orders, many changed their tune as they started to hear from customers that they would refuse to enter until the restaurant started enforcing the rules.
“Look at the vaccination levels and polls that say people support the vaccination passport program,” he said. “If you are a restaurant trying to survive on that 20 per cent [that is unvaccinated], that’s going to be tough.”
aduffy@timescolonist.com
