Questions linger for Sask. business owners ahead of vaccine passport implementation

David Ma, co-owner of District 3 Escape Rooms, thought the nature of his business would have been enough to keep people safe.

He says visiting groups do not mingle with one another. While other escape rooms might have a bar and an alcohol licence, guests arrive at his venue, they solve the puzzle presented to them and they leave. Booking times are staggered so there’s no crossover between groups.

Ma’s staff hold a briefing before games to explain the rules so there is some contact with customers. But he says masking has been in place and the rooms are big enough to physically distance. The rooms are cleaned post-game.

Knowing that guests are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 would be some comfort to him.

“It’s not the end of the world if we don’t,” Ma said. “We felt comfortable with how it was before.”

For Ma, being asked to check for proof of vaccination makes him nervous. While people have always followed the rules at his business, Ma is keenly aware of cases where people have defied them. He worries about potential blowback.

“This kind of adds even more pressure to us. (There’s) a little bit of unease because it takes more enforcement, perhaps,” Ma says. “We’ve seen stories of people screaming and just raising a stink.”

Doug Bean’s brother died of COVID-19, denying the disease existed in his final moments.

The owner of Salon Deja Vu in Saskatoon is extremely supportive of the province’s move to make vaccines mandatory to enter some businesses.

“It’s kind of silly that we have to go this far,” Bean said, likening the provincial government’s decision to a parent teaching a child.

“This is the government’s and health-care system’s way of using child psychology on anti-vaxxers and people: ‘You’re grounded. You can’t go out to play in Alberta, the U.S. or other countries of the world until you get this.’ ”

The government has said proof of vaccination will not be required at businesses offering personal services and Bean isn’t planning on demanding his customers provide it. He has been able to celebrate with many clients after their COVID jabs over the past several months, so he’s not expecting many problems.

Mark Heise, president of Rebellion Brewing in Regina, was hoping some information would be available.

“We’ve received zero communication, zero guidance. There’s just nothing,” he said.

On a day where the brewery’s taproom was near capacity, Heise had no choice but to wonder how the picture might differ come Friday.

No matter what happens, he knows he’ll be implementing a zero tolerance policy, like he did with mandatory masking weeks before the province mandated an indoor masking policy last November.

“You do it or leave. I don’t care who you are. Beat it,” he said late last week.

Heise isn’t concerned about his staff acting as COVID-19 vaccination bouncers at the door because he says Rebellion’s values are well-publicized in the area.

As he navigates through this “uncharted territory” as a business owner, Ma wishes there were some best practices being shared.

“We’re just wanting more feedback to be able to make our best decision on how … we should best approach it,” he said.

More time to prepare would have been helpful, he said. However, he added that given the current situation with skyrocketing case counts, “I don’t know if it’s good to wait at this point.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho and 650 CKOM’s Keenan Sorokan

by CJME News

Questions linger for Sask. business owners ahead of vaccine passport implementation

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