Businesses in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa say they will keep the Trudeau government’s scrapped vaccine passport system, allocating certain times in which only vaccinated people may enter.
While the government of Ontario ended the mandatory vaccine passport system for indoor dining, gyms and other venues on March 1st, some are choosing to keep the system in place during certain hours or on certain nights of the week.
The Hintonburg Public House restaurant near downtown Ottawa, says that they will reserve Thursday evenings for those who can prove they are fully vaccinated with at least two doses of the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine, telling broadcaster CBC the move was for the comfort of some customers.
“We do have some older clientele or people with health issues that have been really extra careful this whole time, and we want them to feel as comfortable as possible in the space,” Summer Baird, the owner of the restaurant, told the broadcaster.
“We’ll just kind of see what the comfort level is and where the numbers are at,” Baird said and added, “That’s really all we can do.”
Others, such as cafe and fitness studio owner Sarah Thompson, said her business will cater toward the fully vaccinated by holding several classes only open to those who can provide evidence of their vaccine status, arguing it would allow her to cater to both vaccinate and unvaccinated clients.
Other businesses that have decided to keep the vaccine passport system have faced not only criticism but a surge of poor online reviews on platforms like Google.
Jenna Ladd, owner of the Iron North Studios gym said her business had received negative reviews after stating it would keep the vaccine passport, with some claiming the business “prefers discrimination over inclusion.”
Other businesses have also claimed to have received negative reviews over interactions with former Freedom Convoy protesters in the city, a protest that ended last month after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in the country’s history.
Following the Freedom Convoy protests, which took place in multiple provinces and saw some blockade border crossings in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, several provinces announced they would be ending various restrictions.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who also used emergency powers to clear Freedom Convoy protestors in the city of Windsor, stated last month that the world was “done” with coronavirus restrictions.
“This is about democracy and freedoms and liberties. I hate as a government telling anyone what to do, we just have to get out of this and move forward and protect the jobs,” he said.