COVID-19: Kitsilano Corduroy Restaurant Has Business License Suspended Again

by

Owner Rebecca Matthews has been an outspoken critic of the province’s health orders and vaccination cards.

Author of the article:

Tiffany crawford

The corduroy restaurant in Kitsilano has once again lost its business license for defying public health orders.
The corduroy restaurant in Kitsilano has once again lost its business license for defying public health orders. Photo by O. Hunt /Photo sent

The corduroy restaurant in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood was ordered closed and its business license suspended again for defying BC’s COVID-19 rules.

Owner Rebecca Matthews, who has been an outspoken critic of the province’s vaccine cards and other COVID-19 health orders, posted a video on her Instagram Wednesday showing Vancouver Coastal Health staff handing her the closure notice.

The city said it suspended Corduroy’s business license following Vancouver Coastal Health’s order to close the establishment for refusing to follow mask rules and not requesting vaccination cards from restaurant guests.

Corduroy’s business license is suspended until December 31. It is not the first time that the city has removed the license from the restaurant. He was suspended in April along with his liquor license.

In an emailed statement Thursday, the city of Vancouver said staff and rangers actively provide education on compliance with provincial health orders, but have no authority to enforce these orders through fines and fines.

Matthews made headlines after he kept Corduroy open in defiance of the province’s COVID-19 restrictions. A widely shared video posted on social media on April 3 showed Vancouver Coastal Health inspectors giving Matthews a closure notice as customers chanted “get out.”

Matthews accused the inspectors of trespassing and said he did not recognize their jurisdiction.

He has organized several rallies outside of his business, which have attracted anti-masqueraders and COVID deniers. However, he said in social media posts that the purpose was to raise awareness of the “incredible damage” that health orders from provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry have had on small businesses.

From March 26 to April 4, Vancouver Coastal Health ordered 12 restaurants closed due to exposure to the virus or for violating public health measures designed to help contain the spread of COVID-19. It was the largest group of health restaurant closures in the city since the start of the pandemic.

[email protected]

-with files from Cheryl Chan and Scott Brown

Reference-vancouversun.com

Leave a Comment