B.C. hair salon owners targeted by anti-mask graffiti

The owners of a White Rock salon are speaking out after their business was targeted by vandals — apparently for requiring patrons to wear a mask.

Sandra Davie, one of the owners of the DC Krew Hair Company, arrived at work Thursday to find “Mask Nazis” scrawled across the front of the business in bright orange paint.

“We were pretty disappointed,” Davie told Global News on Friday. “I think anti-maskers are looking for any opportunity to state their case.”

DC Krew opened in January 2020, but was forced to shut down because of COVID-19 after just 10 weeks in operation.

When they reopened, Davie said the business was strict about COVID-19 protocols.

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While they’ve slowly removed many of those policies as the province opened up, as a group they decided to keep masks in place even though they were no longer legally required after July 1.

“We wanted to make sure when people came in they felt comfortable, safe,” she said.

When the mandatory mask mandate was lifted, most employees at the salon were not fully vaccinated, and as of Friday only half of them had been able to get both of their shots.

Co-owner Madie Clark said beyond the safety and comfort issues, there are practical business reasons the salon has kept the mask policy in place.

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Clark said officials had yet to publicly rescind a policy allowing WorkSafeBC to shutter a business for 10 days if three employees tested positive for COVID-19.

“Until they say, ‘No, if there’s COVID attached to your salon we’re not going to shut you down,’ which is what has been happening until now, we’re going to wear our masks — and that should make sense to everybody,” she said.

“It only takes one person to come in with COVID and we’re not following protocol and all of a sudden a couple of us come down with COVID and then what? If you think about it as a small business, two weeks is about $20,000. Nobody can afford that.”

According to WorkSafeBC’s website, the policy remains in place.

RCMP attended following the graffiti incident, and one of the officers even helped remove the paint from the salon’s windows.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

Davie, however, said she’d be happy to talk with anyone who has concerns about their mask policy.

“If you want to ask me or Madie why we have a mask policy here, come talk to us,” she said.

“Don’t deface our building. So cowardly.”