'Abdication of government responsibility': Edmonton businesses exasperated over Alberta's vaccine passport rollout

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Edmonton business owners are accusing the provincial government of passing the buck on vaccine passports, with some concerned about potential blowback from those opposed to the measure.

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On Wednesday, the government gave non-essential businesses a choice: adopt the restrictions exemption program (REP), under which people must show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests to gain entry as of Monday, and operate as usual; or follow restrictions.

For gyms, that would mean a ban on indoor group classes and activities.

Zita Dube-Lockhart, owner of Action Potential Fitness, supports COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine passports, but said she’s put off by the way the government presented them.

“(The REP) is a false choice,” Dube-Lockhart said. “It’s either (do) vaccine passports or go out of operation. We not only have to administer them but we have to make the decision whether or not we’ll ask members to give private information that is probably outside of what we should be asking. There’s an abdication of government responsibility here.”

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Indoor dining is off the table for restaurants and bars that choose not to require proof of vaccination. They will also have to follow limits on patio service, and curfews on liquor sales and consumption.

For Arcadia Brewing owner Darren Gowan, the omission of the words “vaccine passport” in the government’s announcement was frustrating.

“It’s like, ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ except it’s, ‘I can’t believe it’s not a passport!’ ” he said. “It’s a passport! The government are cowards. They’ve put everything on the shoulders of business owners and frontline workers. They seem to be delaying on the QR codes. They say it’s coming out but they’re not giving a timeline.”

Premier Jason Kenney said in a Facebook Live session on Thursday night that Oct. 1 is the target date for digital QR codes to become available.

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The province did not respond to a request for comment from Postmedia.

Because the decision to enforce proof of vaccination is left up to businesses, not ordered by the government as in other provinces, some business owners, like Brian Launier of Analog Brewing, fear repercussions.

“I’ve seen other businesses start up their own vaccine passports and they got a lot of hate for it. They got phone calls, death threats, people calling them communists and Google review bombs. It was terrible. I’m afraid to do anything because people will attack us for the decisions we make,” he said.

Even so, he has decided to adopt the program.

Dube-Lockhart is confident her clients will comply with the passports because since the pandemic began her facility rigorously followed health measures and saw membership increase by about 60 per cent.

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Gowan already told his customers two weeks ago he would introduce vaccine passports on Monday so they could get prepared. He said it was his own decision and he didn’t know the government would eventually roll out the program.

“I felt our clientele would be on board with it. I’ve already had people ready to show me their proofs. I don’t think there’s going to be much pushback on it,” Gowan said.

Still, the restaurateur expects there will be hitches in the coming weeks, such as customers forgetting to bring proof, neglecting to download it to their phones or having issues accessing the MyHealth Records website, which has seen hours-long wait times this week.

Meanwhile, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce CEO Jeffrey Sundquist urged the provincial government to quickly provide more clarity on the REP.

“There are many questions about how the new program will be applied. The program needs to be relatively simple for businesses to implement at their various workplaces in order to protect their staff and customers. Local businesses need a vaccine passport with a QR code to be developed as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement Thursday.

bmcbride@postmedia.com