VANCOUVER -- The mayor of West Vancouver says she is cancelling her membership at a high-end country club after learning the club had plans to offer an “exclusive” vaccine clinic.
Mary-Ann Booth, mayor of a city that has some of Canada’s wealthiest postal codes, took to Twitter to express her disappointment with the club.
“Although I did not receive the invitation to Hollyburn Country Club's exclusive pop-up vaccination clinic myself, I was appalled when I heard about it through the media,” she said.
“It is completely unacceptable, and I have cancelled my family's Hollyburn membership in response,” she added.
The high-end club, nestled in a city where two-in-five working residents earned more than $100,000 per year in 2015, boasts extensive facilities. The club’s grounds include 25 tennis courts, seven squash courts, two swimming pools, “state of the art” fitness facilities, three ice rinks, seven badminton courts, pickleball courts, a wellness centre, a carwash, a drycleaner, a childcare centre and an upscale restaurant.
Booth suggested that the club’s program would have put club members unfairly ahead of others in the vaccine queue.
“West Vancouver council supports the province’s vaccination program, which provides access to the vaccine to all British Columbians on a fair and equitable basis,” she said in another tweet.
“I encourage everyone to register to be vaccinated through provincially approved channels,” she said.
The B.C. Ministry of Health has condemned the event and said that it has not only cancelled the clinic but is barring the pharmacy which had planned to administer the vaccines at the club from administering any further vaccines.
“This is unacceptable, we cancelled the clinic and won’t be providing any further COVID-19 vaccines to this pharmacy,” reads a statement from a ministry spokesperson.
CTV News Vancouver reached out to country club for comment, but did not hear back.
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