How to Draw a Line in Your Message
'That's where I draw the line': Petrolia restaurant owner issued three tickets during COVID compliance blitz
Tom Stoukas told the provincial inspectors in his restaurant he was too busy to deal with them amid the Friday night dinner rush.
"'Come back Monday,'" the owner and head chef of Athena's Diner in Petrolia recalled. "Then they came back a couple of hours later, snuck in and dropped the envelope and left."
That envelope contained three separate tickets for $880 each, Stoukas said. The Sarnia resident said he wasn't sure exactly what they were for – "I can't read the guy's writing, so I have the lawyers looking into it" – but went on to say he's against the proof-of-vaccination requirement certain industries, such as restaurants, have been instructed to enforce.
"Up until now, I have adhered to all the (COVID) protocols," he said of rolling lockdowns, installing signs, and enforcing physical distancing and mask-wearing. "The vax pass is – that's where I draw the line."
The chef's trio of tickets came amid a three-day "blitz" of restaurants, recreation facilities and other businesses throughout Sarnia-Lambton required to ask patrons for proof of vaccination against COVID-19 before they come inside, per Ontario's rules. The Nov. 4 to Nov. 6 campaign, featuring staff from Lambton public health, the City of Sarnia and Ontario, conducted 164 inspections and laid five charges under the Reopening Ontario Act, the local health unit and an Ontario spokesperson both confirmed Wednesday.
Mike Gorgey, the local health unit's manager of health promotion, said a "multi-ministry team" of provincial offences officers – including the ministries of labour, finance, and transportation, along with a group solely dedicated to enforcing the legislation – issued the tickets. All five charges were handed to two "operators," whose identities weren't available as the health unit wasn't involved in issuing the tickets, Gorgey said.
Stoukas, though, said he was one of them.
"I'm not paying nothing," he said, adding he plans to fight the fines in court. "They can give me $100,000 in fines, I don't care. It's a joke."
Kalem McSween, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, said data from recent inspections shows the "vast majority" of businesses are following the rules.
"However, at the discretion of the officer, businesses found to be in non-compliance can face a ticket of $1,000 or a penalty of up to $10,000,000," he said via email.
Gorgey said the inspectors were looking for "everything" under the Reopening Ontario Act, not just checking customers for proof of two doses of an approved vaccine.
"Masking, implementation of a safety plan – all of those requirements from the ministry," Gorgey said.
McSween said all businesses are expected to follow COVID-19 health-and-safety requirements.
"The goal of these visits is to help workers and the public stay safe, and to keep businesses open," he wrote.
Stacey Forfar, Sarnia's general manager of community services, offered a brief statement on the city's involvement.
"City bylaw staff have been co-ordinating with Sarnia police and Lambton public health throughout the pandemic to support compliance efforts," she said Wednesday via email.
A Sarnia police spokesperson said they were not involved with the three-day blitz.
Gorgey said the inspectors didn't ask patrons for proof of vaccination.
"It is an operator responsibility," he said.
But, he added, they could follow up with customers to see if staff asked to see their documents before they were allowed inside. Other tactics included asking owners and staff what their process is for checking and watching it in action from inside or outside the premises.
"There's a number of mechanisms for an enforcement professional to ascertain whether or not someone is doing something – or not," Gorgey said.
The health unit issued a reminder to local businesses on Nov. 2 – two days before the blitz – to enforce Ontario's proof-of-vaccination requirements.
"Kind of give them a little bit of a heads up without actually saying that this was coming," Gorgey said.
Dr. Sudit Ranade, Lambton's medical officer of health, said they heard "some concerns" via phone calls and social media about certain settings not enforcing the rules.
"So we're just following up on that as a general message to say these are the rules the province has put in place and we want you to follow them," he said.
Stoukas, though, said he feels "sick" asking for them.
"I'm not going to take part in that," he said. "I don't even care about money. It's about the principles."
Gorgey was unsure if there'll be another blitz co-ordinated with the province, but noted local staff will still be out regularly.
"Compliance is still the expectation," he said.
Stoukas said he hasn't seen any inspectors since Friday but is ready for them to return.
"I expect them to," he said.
UPDATED COVID-19 STATS
Four new local COVID-19 cases were reported Wednesday by the health unit. Of the 4,250 cases since the pandemic began, 43 were active while 4,136 were resolved.
The seven-day incidence rate of confirmed cases in the region was 42.8 per 100,000 people, up from 26.7 the previous seven days. The latest provincial rate was 22.3.
The local death toll was still 71.
The health unit was overseeing active outbreaks at Bluewater Health, a Lambton County elementary school, and two unidentified local businesses.
Seven COVID-positive patients, not necessarily linked to the outbreak, were being treated in hospital.
A total of 80.8 per cent of eligible Sarnia-Lambton residents – ages 12 and older – have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and were fully immunized. Nearly 84 per cent had at least one of the 192,708 shots administered by the health unit, hospitals, doctors' offices, and pharmacies.
tbridge@postmedia.com
@ObserverTerry
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How to Draw a Line in Your Message
Source: https://www.theobserver.ca/news/thats-where-i-draw-the-line-petrolia-restaurant-owner-issued-three-tickets-during-covid-compliance-blitz
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