Gym owner will not ask for proof of vaccination
`I'm not going to stand for' new law `I don't feel is just,' Joshua Fry says
An Ottawa gym owner says that while his business is taking other COVID -19 precautions, he and his staff will not ask clients to prove they have been fully vaccinated once the province's vaccination certificate system takes effect later this month.
“Everybody is entitled to fair and equal treatment, not to be refused entry,” Joshua Fry, owner of OCR Academy on Morrison Drive, said Tuesday in an interview.
“At the end of the day, we are not an epidemiology facility, we are not a political party,” he said. “We just simply lift things up and put things down and we want to provide that service for as many people as possible.”
Under the Ontario government plan announced last week, starting Sept. 22 staff at restaurants, bars, event spaces, sports and fitness facilities, concerts, theatres and other non-essential, high-risk indoor settings will have to ask customers to show proof of full vaccination and photo identification. A digital vaccine certificate is to be introduced by Oct. 22.
Fry said he has complied previously with pandemic restrictions and that his business takes stringent safety measures. “It's not that we're anti-vax, and it's not that we think this pandemic isn't real,” Fry said.
“In this particular case, enough is enough and I'm not going to stand for it,” he said. “I feel comfortable I've stood up against a law I don't feel is just.”
Fry said he informed more than 5,000 people on his business's mailing list this weekend about his stance.
He received just 20 responses, of which only a few were strongly negative, he said.
The email, shared with the Citizen, said: “Our facility has always been inclusive and never discriminatory to anyone based on personal choices. I believe in your right to choose and provide informed consent as well as everyone's right to privacy. We will not ask, and you do not have to show.
“The nature of our gym does pose many risks,” the email also said.
“We have in place rules that are designed to keep you and your family safe ... strict measures when it comes to cleanliness, sanitation, masks in common areas, physical distance, pre-screening and educating people.
“Stay positive and test negative,” the email concluded.
Three of his gym's 151 members have quit, but three new members have joined, he said. One employee quit over his position, Fry added.
It's expected bylaw officers and provincial inspectors are to enforce Ontario's proof-of-vaccination requirements, beginning with education and warnings. Individuals could be fined up to $750 and corporations fined $1,000 and up, depending on the offence.
“Once received, we will be reviewing the provincial government's legislation as it pertains to the new vaccine regulations and will develop operational measures and policies to ensure compliance,” Roger Chapman, the city's director of bylaw and regulatory services, said Tuesday.
Implementing Ontario's public health directives “is the city's top priority,” Chapman said.
Fry said he knows he could face repercussions.
Enforcement officials, he said, will be met with a no-trespassing sign saying that they cannot enter the gym unless they have a warrant.
He said denying people entry to his gym would open him to human rights complaints. No one has raised the possibility of such a complaint with him, he said, but he has heard from people who said they would report his business to Ottawa bylaw officers.