The owner of a small Okanagan business says she’s had it with people ignoring B.C.’s public health order and refusing to wear a mask in her cafe.
On Wednesday, Darci Yeo’s staff at Bliss Bakery in Kelowna were forced to confront a woman who refused to wear a mask upon entering the business.
“She said ‘No, I don’t do masks.’ And then she proceeded to lecture my staff in regard to the fact that she didn’t have to wear a mask,” Yeo told Global News.
“That it was against her constitutional right and she was a constitutional lawyer,” Yeo added.
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According to Yeo, the woman then pulled out her phone and started taking video of two staff members.
“She was very combative; she clearly wanted a fight,” Yeo said.
Yeo says staff repeatedly asked the woman to leave. And when the woman refused to do so, they called police.
“She left just prior to the RCMP arriving, unfortunately,” Yeo explained.
Yeo says what’s really upsetting is that this isn’t the first time the woman has entered her business without wearing a mask — it was the third.
“This person knows that they need to wear a mask,” Yeo said.
“They are coming in, they are harassing my team and making them feel uncomfortable at work.”
Stories of patrons who refuse to wear masks are nothing new according to Mark Burley, executive director of the Downtown Kelowna Association.
“This has been going on since masks were mandated honestly,” said Burley.
His advice to business owners is simple when it comes to dealing with anti-maskers.
“Call the RCMP and have them come because, in essence, they are breaking the law,” Burley said.
And Burley is also quick to point out that a private business owner is under no obligation to serve anyone.
“Any business, at any time, mask or no mask mandate, can refuse service of anybody who walks into their business. That is their right,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yeo says “it’s a situation we shouldn’t have to be put in.”
Yeo maintains that her bakery isn’t a forum for a constitutional debate on masks.
“Why do you have to make other people’s lives hard?” Yeo asked. “This isn’t the venue for it.”