Three Eateries Call For End To Gov’t Mandated Pass Requirements For Entry
From left, George Gates of Farm Table Inn, Aaron Scally of Small Block Brewing and Bruce Findlay of The Lion Rampant Scottish Pub
COWICHAN VALLEY – A trio of Cowichan Valley area restaurants are fed up with the BC government’s “vaccine passport”.
The owners of the Lion Rampant Scottish Pub in Maple Bay, the Farm Table Inn in Lake Cowichan and the Small Block Brewery in Duncan are calling for an end to the January 25 dictate by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry calling for the extension until June 30 requiring the pass for entry into non-essential services such as gyms, theatres, restaurants, pubs and lounges. In a combined statement, they stated that Henry has “continually talked about ‘following the science’, as the science changes. The science has changed.” The vaccine pass was introduced in September to encourage unvaccinated people to get vaccinated.
Aaron Scally, one of the owners of Small Block Brewery at 5301 Chaster Road in Duncan, states “Business has suffered for almost two years under the restrictions that the BC PHO has placed on our industry. We have borne an unfair level of onus and responsibility as corporate multinationals and fast food chains have been able to continue business as normal.
“It appears the effort to utilize our industry segment as a pain point and locus of the coercion and exertion of pressure on the remaining unvaccinated populous has failed. Those who have chosen not to receive the vaccine continue in their distrust of the variable messaging of both provincial and federal governments.”
Bruce Findlay, owner of The Lion Rampant Scottish Pub at 6777 Beaumont Avenue in Maple Bay, notes “Since the movement of the Omicron variant through our communities, and the fact that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people can contract, transmit and become ill with the variant, the pass no longer makes any sense.
“The vaccine protects the person who has the vaccine from becoming more ill, than those who do not have the vaccine. It does not stop the spread. The science proves that now.”
Scally reports that in mid-January, three fully-vaccinated staff at Small Block Brewery were infected with Covid-19 from contact with a fully vaccinated patron, who was carrying a current BC vaccine pass.
“We closed for the mandatory period while our staff recuperated,” he continues. “However, this incident underscores that the vaccination pass is ineffective at anything more than decreasing patronage to establishments already hard hit by nearly two years of restrictions.
“The science no longer supports the efficacy of a vaccine passport. It is now only an economic hindrance, an invasion into patron’s personal medical records and a devastating obstruction to patronage at our establishments.”
George Gates, owner of the Farm Table Inn at 6766 Cowichan Lake Road in Lake Cowichan, states “There is no reason any further that any BC resident should have to prove they have received the vaccine. As Dr. Henry stated on January 21, we need to learn to live with Covid-19 like any other flu-like virus.
“All mandates need and restrictions need to end. The province has not shown how any of these restrictions help any longer. Many of the restaurants, pubs, breweries and lounges of the Cowichan Valley stand in solidarity in demanding an immediate end to the vaccine pass and all other mandates that affect the restaurant and hospitality industries.”
Mark MacDonald is President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations Ltd. and Author of the book “It Worked For Them, It Will Work For Me: The 8 Secrets of Small Business I Learned From Successful Friends”, which can be obtained by reaching him through: mark@communicationink.ca
