'Anger and vitriol': Toronto restaurants with vaccine mandate face backlash
The decision to enforce, or not enforce, a COVID-19 vaccination policy is negatively impacting some Toronto businesses.
The owner of Restaurant Chantecler says several fake reservations have been made and unwarranted one-star reviews have been left after the restaurant said it would ask guests who sit at the bar to show proof of vaccination.
“Creating a policy for six bar seats to keep our bartenders safe and keep ourselves safe from an outbreak that would surely close us down for two weeks...these are very reasonable and agreeable steps,” Jacob Wharton-Shukster said.
“The anger and vitriol that’s being spewed from the anti-vax crowd is sort of wild,” he said.
A new website called SafeTO-Do has surfaced to help guide vaccine conscious Ontarians find businesses that have policies for staff and/or customers.
Filmores Gentlemen’s Club is on the list — staff and patrons must be fully vaccinated to enter the establishment.
“The number one concern was safety. Is this going to be safe? Are we going to be okay?” said Kasper Cameron, the club’s manager.
“We are morally and ethically obligated to provide the safest possible work environment, so to us it was simple math."
Classes at Toronto Dance Salsa resume on Friday.
“Eighty per cent of our students are single, this is where marriages happen, relationships happen,” said studio director Aleks Saiyan.
Staff and students who want to dance in-person will need to show up fully protected against COVID-19.
“Now students can come in on their own, dance with others in small groups, because obviously limited capacity, but they can touch,” Saiyan said.
The majority of students are on board with the policy, he said.
Meanwhile, GoodLife Fitness has lost members for not asking for proof of vaccination.
Employment lawyers say enforcing a vaccine mandate is still a legal grey area.
“If there was any legal challenge to a mandatory vaccine policy they might be upheld in the health care sector, possibly in retail, and maybe in the food industry,” said Lai-King Hum, from HUM Law Firm.
Cameron and Wharton-Shukster argued businesses are in this sticky situation of defending their own vaccine policy, because they said the Ontario government failed to make one for them.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to New York from upstate prison
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
'We are declaring our readiness': No decision made yet as Poland declares it's ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Central Alberta queer groups react to request from Red Deer-South to reinstate Jennifer Johnson to UCP caucus
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.