Vaccine-card enforcement: 885 complaints filed in B.C.; 13 violation tickets issued
Just over a dozen enforcement tickets were handed out in the first month of B.C.'s vaccine-card program, but hundreds of complaints were issued to officials.
B.C.'s vaccine card rules rolled out on Sept. 13, requiring proof of immunization to access many discretionary businesses and events like restaurants, movie theatres and games.
In a statement to CTV News Vancouver, B.C.'s public safety ministry and office of the solicitor general said 885 complaints have so far been received by local health authorities and the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch.
From those, 648 were investigated and 401 were "resolved through education and compliance," the ministry's statement said.
Beyond that, 48 warning letters were issued and 13 violation tickets were handed out.
As of Oct. 3, only three tickets had been issued, meaning 10 more were handed out in a 12-day period.
As well, the ministry said three closure orders were issued to businesses over the past month. Two liquor licences were suspended and one business licence was suspended.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said earlier in the month that more enforcement was coming.
"I'm aware that there are those that think the rules don't apply to them," Farnworth said last week. "Tickets have been issued and there will be more coming."
The ministry said nearly 3.6 million people have downloaded their vaccine cards.
Starting on Oct. 24, the next phase of the vaccine-card program will begin. Starting that date, proof of full vaccination will be required to access those discretionary services.
However, officials have previously said they don't expect to see as many vaccine card tickets because of how many residents are already vaccinated.
"We anticipate that the number of violation tickets issued in relation to vaccine card requirements will be much lower than the rate of violation tickets in previous months," the ministry said in an email.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Alissa Thibault
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.