'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
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.