Concern grows as anti-maskers target B.C. workers enforcing COVID-19 rules

As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, public health restrictions have brought out the worst in some of us.

On Monday, a customer at a Canadian Tire in Burnaby allegedly became belligerent after being asked to wear a mask. The customer is now at the centre of an assault investigation.

0:56 Anti-masker abuses staff at Vancouver camera store

“We all have rights, including the store,” Burnaby Cpl. Mike Kalanj said. “So the store has the right to ask you to leave.”

A similar incident took place earlier this month at Vancouver’s Kerrisdale Camera when an unidentified man confronted staff when asked to put on a mask, and captured it on video.

A confrontation at a De Dutch Pannekoek House saw a group of people, who claimed to have medical exemptions, berate young workers.

“These people know what they’re doing is wrong,” Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said.

1:37 VPD officer suffers broken leg in court house confrontation with anti-masker

“They need to wear a mask in a public place. No employee should be subject to any form of abuse. These people are being deliberate. They’re ignorant and their behaviour needs to stop.”

Police and legal experts remind businesses that they have the right to deny service to anyone who is putting staff or other customers at risk.

1:58 B.C. grocery store hires security guard to manage anti-maskers

Workers who find themselves in a confrontation over masks can contact police, Farnworth added.

Lawyer Sarah Leamon notes that the law almost always sides with the citizens who abide by the rules.

“At this point the constitutional validity of this law has yet to be tested, so anybody pursuing this avenue is going down a precarious path,” she said.