West Kelowna gym fined $2,300 as owners call on mayor to renew business licence

Iron Energy Gym co-owner Brian Mark talks about the decision to reopen in spite of B.C.'s COVID-19 restrictions in an Instagram video. (Instagram/Iron Energy Gym)

Vancouver -

A West Kelowna gym that reopened this week in defiance of B.C.'s COVID-19 restrictions has been fined $2,300 and ordered to close once again.

Interior Health confirmed the fine was issued to Iron Energy Gym on Thursday, along with a closure order citing contraventions of the province's Public Health Act.

Earlier this week, the gym's 2022 business licence renewal was also withheld by the city. The owners responded by calling on West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom to reconsider "the city's decision to close gyms and negatively impact the mental health of the city that you govern."

"It seems like the entire city of West Kelowna is not interested in the mental and physical health of the people that they are supposed to serve," reads a post on the Iron Energy Gym Facebook page. "I speak on behalf of all West Kelowna."

The business also posted a video of members – most of whom were recorded speaking without masks –explaining what exercise has meant for their mental health.

A number of gym owners have chosen to disobey provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry's order requiring fitness facilities to cease in-person services until Jan. 18, at the earliest.

Two gyms in Kamloops, No Limits Fitness and Anytime Fitness, were also fined $2,300 on Thursday due to non-compliance, according to Castanet News. Three other gyms in the city have also refused to close.

Some in the fitness industry have argued their industry is being unfairly targeted, and demanded proof of COVID-19 transmission in those settings.

Henry addressed the pushback on Tuesday, saying that intense indoor exercise, even when people are wearing masks, creates a heightened risk of transmission – a particular concern with the highly infectious Omicron variant now accounting for 80 per cent of cases in B.C.

Henry stressed the closure order wasn't issued because gyms weren't following recommendations or guidelines, but to protect customers and employees.

"The reputable ones understand that – they're not going to put their staff and clients at risk when we're seeing the amount of transmission that we're seeing right now," she said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kendra Mangione