Couple accused of flying to Yukon for vaccine ‘despicable’

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s public safety minister says a Vancouver couple accused of flying to Yukon to get a COVID19 vaccine is one of the most “despicable” things he’s heard in a long time.

Mike Farnworth says the alleged actions of former Great Canadian Gaming Corp. CEO Rodney Baker and his wife Ekaterina Baker show a “complete lack of any sort of ethical or moral compass.”

Tickets filed in a Whitehorse court show the 55-year-old man and his 32-year-old wife were each charged with failing to self-isolate for 14 days and failing to act in a manner consistent with their declarations upon arriving in Yukon.

The allegations against them have not been proven in court and the tickets indicate the couple can challenge them.

Ekaterina Baker did not immediately respond to calls and emails requesting comment while Rodney Baker did not immediately return a request for comment sent to Great Canadian Gaming, which accepted his resignation Sunday.

Farnworth said the couple paid a “pretty high price,” with Rodney Baker losing what the minister described as a “$10-million-a-year job.”

An information circular published by Great Canadian Gaming in March 2020 says Baker earned a total of about $6.7 million in compensation from the company in 2019.

The tickets were issued on Thursday under Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act and both people face fines of $1,000, plus fees.