Some Lethbridge businesses are getting fed up with the current Government of Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions, which has resulting in police stepping in.
On Jan. 11 the Lethbridge Police Service charged a local business after it choose not to comply with Alberta’s mandatory COVID-19 restrictions. Shahin Mehdizadeh, Lethbridge Police Chief, said they have only issued one business a ticket for refusing to cooperate and opening before they were supposed to.
“AHS actually visited the business, [LPS] were there just to make sure everybody could maintain the peace. As a result, we ended up bringing enforcement action on that business.”
LPS did not release the name of the business that was charged, but shortly later, the owner of Peppermint Hippo Tattoo posted on Facebook that he had been visited by AHS and LPS for opening early. Will Woods, the owner of the business, posted a public reply on social media.
“Yes we opened… and might I add not under the radar… not with the open sign off… we opened. And now we have a court date,” The post goes on to say. “If we remain open, they will pull my license indefinitely and give me a large fine to prove a point.”
The business was found to be in non-compliance and the owner was charged under Section 73(1) of the Public Health Act for contravening a public health order. Mehdizadeh said LPS did not release the name of the business because they’re not in a mindset to embarrass a business or individual.
“We’re just trying to hopefully get the message to these folks. We’re not doing it to have a heavy-handed approach, we’re just doing it to help AHS bring more safety to the community and our citizens.”
After contacting them multiple times, Peppermint Hippo Tattoo did not reply to emails or phone calls.
For local restaurants in Lethbridge, they’re hoping the government lifts the restrictions for dine-in services.
Sonder Coffee Bar, located on 3 Avenue South, has continued to offer pick up and delivery services during the current restrictions. Michelle Robertson, manager at Sonder Coffee Bar, says over the last few months they have adapted to new options to keep up with sales.
“A lot of coffee shops don’t necessarily have online ordering systems, but we luckily had one. We’ve done a lot of take away [orders], we’ve adapted a new Sonder at home program where we can actually have our customers consume products at home [rather] than in a cafe or in a public setting.”
Robertson says during these times of uncertainty, businesses receiving information from the government regarding restrictions at the same time as the public has been quite frustrating.
“We understand that things have to be kind of day-to-day, week-to-week, so we’re not actually all that concerned because were ready for either way. We’re prepared for dine-in, we’re prepared for take away, so no matter what happens, it’s really just that we don’t have to change too much of what we do.”
Local businesses across the province had to lay off staff at the beginning of the pandemic last year, but businesses and employees were able to apply for support from both provincial and federal governments in forms of Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, Employment Insurance and business grants. Robertson says she’s concerned that if the province goes into another lockdown in the next couple months, they’ll have to lay off staff without those supports in place.
“We’ve been really fortunate that we haven’t had to [lay off staff] while we’ve been open, but hours were cut.”
LPS and AHS are not aware of any other businesses that opened on Jan. 11. As for Peppermint Hippo Tattoo, it was served an appearance notice for a court date on Jan. 22.