Aid from the province’s vaccine passport is ‘a nice gesture,’ Alberta business owners say, but too little too late

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For employers struggling to implement Alberta’s vaccine passport program, the promise of money is far less useful than cash, say business owners reacting to new government support.

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On Thursday, the Alberta government introduced help for businesses adopting the province’s Restrictions Waiver Program, which requires certain businesses to screen customers who fail to provide proof of vaccination or provide a valid negative COVID-test result. 19 (in lieu of a medical exemption), or operate under public health restrictions.

Assistance includes a $ 2,000 grant to eligible businesses to offset the cost of participating in the program. While applications for the grant open in four to six weeks, the government is also creating new legislation to provide legal protection to employers who require their staff to be vaccinated.

Zita Dubé-Lockhart, co-owner of Action Potential Fitness, a boutique gym in West Edmonton, said that while she’s excited that the province is recognizing the financial burden of the program for businesses, such as additional staff to verify proof of vaccination, employers could have used that support before the program went into effect on September 20.

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“Anyone who has lived in a check-to-check world – which is what many businesses experience through COVID – will understand that the promise of money is far less effective than actual cash in hand,” he said. “We still have to tap into the money reserves that we just don’t have.”

The government will also dedicate $ 1 million to training and educating workers responsible for implementing the program. Dubé-Lockhart said this support is welcome given the polarized reception of vaccine passports in the province and the fact that nonviolent crisis intervention is rarely taught to retail employees.

With these funds, industry associations can apply for grants to develop or acquire training to prepare staff for challenges on the job.

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But as far as Alberta Hospitality Association president Ernie Tsu is concerned, that’s too little too late for restaurants that have been struggling to train front door staff or hire security to do the job during meals. last two weeks.

Also the owner of Trolley 5, a Calgary brewery, Tsu said he and others in the industry are no strangers to hostile customers who oppose vaccine passports. While the training grant was “a nice gesture,” he added, the government should have funneled funds toward security costs incurred by companies since the program was launched.

“There should have been a lot more preparation on how the vaccine passport would affect business,” he said. “It was up to each restaurant to fend for themselves.”

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For both Dubé-Lockhart and Tsu, the props do little to help with what they see as a major problem with the show itself, which is that companies within reach feel like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to of to serve customers and stay open.

The alternative to implementing the restriction waiver program is for companies to operate under more stringent public health restrictions. Gyms, for example, would have to cancel classes and group activities indoors, while restaurants would be closed to the indoor dining room.

“The kinds of things that would normally be covered by at least statutes, if not public health orders, have now been put into our hands,” Dubé-Lockhart said, “and I think that evokes a lot of anger from customers because the The person responsible for deciding whether or not they can enter the premises is, in fact, the owner of the company. “