Beaumont, Alta., bakery ordered to close over 'vaccine passport' rules remains open
A Beaumont, Alta., bakery owner says she’d rather lose her business than stick her nose into that of her customers by asking for their proof of vaccination.
“I refuse to ask for the vaccine passports. It’s not any of my business,” Jen Foster from Bake My Day told CTV News Edmonton Wednesday.
As of Sept. 20, only restaurants that ask for vaccine proof, or a negative COVID-19 test, are allowed to stay open for in-person dining.
An Alberta Health Services closure order was posted on Bake My Day's front door - next to an owner-posted note saying the business is still open.
“If you wish to sit at a table, please talk to a staff member so we can stop being harassed by AHS,” the note said.
AHS suspended Bake My Day’s food handling permit on Oct. 8, alleging violations of COVID-19 safety rules.
Foster acknowledges she let customers sit and eat without asking for their vaccination records.
“I'll let my business go out of business before I ask for somebody's vaccination records,” she said.
“Everything in me just said that this is absolutely wrong, because we all know that vaccinated people can still get COVID, can still pass it along.”
But vaccinated people are a lot less likely to get the COVID-19 and end up in hospital when they do, Alberta government statistics show.
On Thursday, government data attributed 67 per cent of active cases and 72 per cent of hospitalizations to unvaccinated people.
Seventy-six per cent of eligible Albertans over 12 had received two doses.
Foster said AHS visited her location three times asking her to comply. The third time, she was given a closure notice.
An inspector has checked on her business twice since then, Foster said.
CUSTOMERS STILL COMING TO ‘CLOSED’ BAKERY
But the doors haven’t been barricaded, so she’s still making food and said she will keep serving it via takeout, delivery and curbside pickup.
“I’m trying to support my fellow small business person, and I feel like it’s OK to be open right now to everyone,” customer Kathy Austin said, declining to comment on pandemic safety specifically.
“I’m really happy that they’re open and that they’ve decided to not exclude anyone.”
In one of the orders that Foster is accused of breaking, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw writes that the rules are in place because COVID-19 “poses a significant risk to public health.”
“I have the authority to take whatever other steps that are, in my opinion, necessary in order to lessen the impact of the public health emergency,” CMOH Order 44 said.
But Foster doesn’t agree it’s a business owner's responsibility to check vaccine records.
She doesn’t know what AHS will do next to enforce the order, but insists she’s not changing her mind.
“It’s stressing everybody out. No matter which way you go with this, small businesses aren’t winning. We’re not coming out on top,” Foster argued.
On Thursday, Foster closed her shop to indoor dining only in hopes she'd be allowed to stay open.
CTV News Edmonton contacted AHS to see if that means she is now compliant, but a response was not immediately received.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.