Covid passport “a pain for business”
Global emphasizes what a pain it is for restaurants to check the vaccine passport – with a quote from Peter Sergakis, of course – and CTV has a video about music venues, leading with the idea that the passport is also a pain for them but actually ending up with some upbeat stuff about outdoor performances. The guy who claims no Covid transmission has happened inside venues is wrong, though: remember the outbreak caused in a karaoke bar in Quebec City a year ago?
Meantime, McGill is insisting on classes in person and no distancing, no testing and no vaccine mandate.
j2 09:59 on 2021-09-06 Permalink
It is a simpler act than even taking money from the customer, since there’s no tip or PIN involved. A phone or tablet fixed in one location would work. I’m sure the problem is the customers, not the mechanism.
Any friction to business is seen as a detriment but the alternative is another lockdown – which seems far, far more detrimental.
DeWolf 10:42 on 2021-09-06 Permalink
These TV-based media outlets can always be relied on to provide the most hackneyed, sensational, underreported takes on any given issue. CTV is often bad for this but Global is even worse.
Its article claims restaurateurs are struggling, but it quotes precisely two people. The first is the owner of Le Petit Vibe, the restaurant that has made the loudest noise about being opposed to the passport – as they state quite clearly, they closed their dining room as a political statement, not in response to the impracticality of enforcing the passport. Doesn’t really fit with the narrative that the passport makes like difficult for restaurants. Then it quotes Peter Sergakis, Montreal’s most reliable source for negative commentary on anything that prevents him from extracting as much money as possible from his uniquely horrible establishments. Remember when he claimed the smoking ban would drive him out of business? Or when he was caught fraudently serving 20oz pints of beer that were far less than 20oz?
To be clear, I’m not blaming the reporter, especially when he’s doing the story for TV, with all of its time constraints. It’s the editors who think it’s okay to take TV script and put it online as a news article without any additional context. Back when I was reporting for a daily newspaper, if I had filed a story with only two quoted sources on a hot topic like this, my editor would have crumpled up my draft copy and thrown it straight in the trash. (And believe me, there were times when I didn’t do nearly enough legwork as I should have and was called out for it.) But I guess TV newsrooms have a different standard.
The reality of the vaccine passport, which at this point I have used in a dozen different cafés, bars and restaurants, is that it takes less than 10 seconds to deal with and is done at exactly the same time as you order a drink, or when the restaurant host is determining which table is available for you to sit at. (If restaurant/bar workers are good at anything, it’s multitasking.) The only hiccups come when customers arrive without their QR codes ready, but even then, I’ve arrived at places behind tourists with Ontario proof and it didn’t hold things up very much. I haven’t been anywhere that has had to hire a special security guard to verify the passport.
Another angle that hasn’t been reported: I’ve noticed a couple of establishments that reopened or expanded their indoor seating the day the passport came into effect – precisely the opposite of what Le Petit Vibe has done.
Andrew 10:42 on 2021-09-06 Permalink
I laughed out loud at Sergakis’s quote that his business is down 20%. Like that’s the point, that’s exactly the percentage of unvaccinated adults.
JaneyB 13:08 on 2021-09-06 Permalink
My past experience teaching at McGill is fairly reassuring. The students there are exceptionally conscientious. I’m not surprised that some of them are anxious about a lack of passport for classrooms; they are anxious generally. I suspect they have one of the highest vaxx rates in society eg: 99%. Also, with the vaccine passport necessary for all extra-curricular activities there, any hesitant younglings would have fixed that pronto.
notabene 21:14 on 2021-09-06 Permalink
I currently teach at McGill and I am not reassured. Students are not being adequately cautious about masking and distancing, numerous international students are not yet vaccinated, and many classrooms are outdated, with windows that don’t open and questionable ventilation (the rooms are stuffy and/or smelly, which doesn’t suggest an adequate rate of air exchange). The university has not provided any additional filtration in the rooms where I teach, but nonetheless a memo from the provost instructs faculty not to bring their own air purifiers. Another memo from the provost to the deans is callous not only about faculty health concerns but about the health of their family members: “The following are not valid reasons for granting permission to teach remotely: fear about campus safety, residing in another jurisdiction, or concern about relatives who might be at heightened risk or exposure to COVID-19, including those living under the same roof.” It seems to me that the administration is hellbent on justifying their tuition fees by providing an in-person “college experience”–at the expense of the health and safety of their community.
Harry 08:04 on 2021-09-07 Permalink
Next time you show your passport, ask if the establishment has a vaccine policy for its staff…