The Minden 50s Diner restaurant has been forced to close after the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR) received multiple complaints about it not following provincial COVID-19 rules.
On December 23rd, a Superior Court judge ruled that the restaurant must stay closed until further order from the court.
It comes after the owner of the restaurant was served with a section 22 order on December 14th. “The section 22 order was issued under the Health Protection and Promotion Act which governs the prevention of the spread of disease and the promotion and protection of the health of the people of Ontario,” HKPR officials explain. “The order required the owner to comply with all provincial measures for restaurants required by the Reopening Ontario Act, and associated regulations, or to close the premises.”
HKPR officials say staff visited the site “multiple times” to provide information and education to the owner prior to the 14th.
The diner last posted on its Facebook page on December 19th that they “can not willingly participate in this vaccine passport segregation that is taking place.” They added in the post that they won’t serve anyone if they can serve everyone.
“Thanks to all those that supported us over the last seven years it’s been a pleasure but we can not participate in this vax passport it is morally wrong and we hope you all understand,” the post finished.
“Because patrons are not always fully masked while in a food premise, the province’s Reopening Ontario Act requires that restaurants take additional actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” says Dr. Natalie Bocking, HKPR’s Medical Officer of Health. “By not complying with provincial regulations for indoor masking and proof of vaccination, operators put their staff and customers at risk.”