Restaurant ignores B.C.’s Covid restrictions, while another shuts down patio due to ‘pushy, rude’ customers

Apr 5, 2021 | 9:55 AM

B.C.’s public safety minister says businesses that continue to keep their indoor dining spaces open in defiance of Covid-19 rules will face consequences.

The warning from Mike Farnworth comes after a Vancouver restaurant that ignored restrictions by serving patrons indoors was slapped with a closure notice on Saturday, which its owner has indicated she intends to ignore.

“Harassment of enforcement officials will not be tolerated, and closure orders by Vancouver Coastal Health or any other health authority must be respected,” Farnworth said in a statement.

“There most certainly will be consequences for those openly ignoring and defying orders that are intended to keep British Columbians safe.”

Health inspectors were shouted out of a Vancouver restaurant on Saturday by patrons dining indoors in contravention of public health orders.

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Corduroy Restaurant in Kitsilano has continued to serve patrons indoors and has been slapped with a closure notice, but its owner suggests she will reopen after restocking on food.

The BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association has no tolerance for restaurants not following the public health orders.

“As an industry we need to stand together. There is no place for this type of complete disregard for public safety and the rule of law,” Ian Tostenson President and CEO of the BCRFA, said. “The actions of a few selfish, arrogant, and irresponsible restaurant owners do not in any way reflect the significant effort this industry has made to ensure public safety. As an industry, we have worked too hard to have a few restauranteurs taint our reputation by openly defying the Provincial Health Order.”

New daily Covid-19 case records were set in B.C. from Apr. 1-2 (Thursday to Friday) with 1,018, and from Friday to Saturday, Apr. 2-3, with 1,072, for a total of 102,970 since the pandemic started.

The previous daily high was recorded last Wednesday, Mar. 31, with 1,013.

Of the new cases, 1,761 were from the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions, which is 84 per cent of the 2,090 cases.

Interior Health had 149 new cases (7 per cent), with 709 the Vancouver Coastal Health region (33.9 per cent) 1,052 in Fraser Health (50.3 per cent), 147 in Island Health (7 per cent), 33 in Northern Health (1.6 per cent) and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

Meantime, a restaurant owner in Nelson says it was an incredibly tough call but in the end he decided to shut down his patio over the long weekend because of large numbers of customers not following the COVID-19 orders.

Main Street Diner owner Nick Diamond said on social media he closed his business half way through a “tremendously busy day” on Sunday for what he felt was in the name of community health and safety.

Diamond said there was an “incredible influx of out of town visitors” moving through his restaurant on Saturday, with many described as “pushy, rude,” and not following public health guidelines.

by Pete McIntyre & Canadian Press

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