Calgary hospitality businesses say they're facing backlash for provincial decision
Pubs and restaurants say they've been left to take the brunt of the backlash for the province's vaccine passport program, including threats and abuse from would-be guests.
"I've lost a third of my staff because they're not vaccinated," said Jo Lowden, co-owner of the Pig & Duke pubs. "I don't think people realize this is not us mandating this. This is the government being cowards and putting it on us."
Lowden said they are checking proof of vaccination or negative tests, and even went beyond those minimum requirements to make sure all staff were immunized.
She added that the province's vaccine passport rules gives the appearance of a choice for business, when in reality it's no choice at all.
"I mean we can't be open in the fall and winter with 30 seats on the patio, so we don't really have a choice," Lowden says.
A cheeky sign posted at the pub's entrance encourages people to be adults and not put staff in a position where they need to ask would-be customers to leave.
Late Wednesday afternoon the city passed a vaccine mandate bylaw meant to apply a uniform set of requirements and clarify the provincial mandate which many organizations and businesses have complained are difficult to understand.
But the new bylaw won't help businesses outside city limits.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.