'We don’t want you in here': small business refusing fully vaccinated customers
A small shop selling beads and herbal medicines in Windsor Ont., is asking customers if they’re vaccinated, before allowing them to shop.
Anastasia Timakis is one of the people turned away at the door, by a man she believes to be the shop owner.
“When I told him (the store owner), yes I’ve been vaccinated for both, he said you have to leave,” says Timakis.
She was curious about the store, when she noticed there was no business name on the outside, just a dozen pandemic related notices all over the front window; many of them against government-ordered protocols.
A small shop selling beads and herbal medicines in Windsor Ont., on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. (Michelle Maluske / CTV Windsor)
“There was maybe 10 or 15 people in there and not one of them had a mask on,” says Timakis.
“So little bells and whistles went off in my head saying ‘Anastasia something’s not right here.’”
Timakis accuses the man of being hostile and saying to her “we don’t want you in here”, because she is fully vaccinated.
“I was afraid for my health and safety,” says Timakis. “Not because they weren’t vaccinated, because we were very far away, but just his whole attitude.”
CTV News attempted to speak with the owner, but he refused to answer questions, on the basis of vaccination status, and we were asked to leave the store.
Back in April, when some anti-vaccine notices first went on the door of Herb Plus Beadworks, the owner, Tony Pantalleresco, told CTV News his belief is the vaccines aren’t tested, and as such, are dangerous.
“We don’t have enough data right now, to say that these things are safe,” says Pantalleresco.
Doctors, scientists, researchers and leading medical officers across Canada have maintained for months, saying the vaccines are based on decades of research and they are safe for the vast majority of people.
Timakis is worried the store is sending the wrong message during a crisis.
“Whether I agree with what the government does or does not do, what these people are doing is very wrong,” says Timakis. “I’m disgusted.”
In a statement to CTV News, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) says they follow up on 100 per cent of all complaints regard the Reopening Ontario Act.
The statement also reads “The WECHU has taken enforcement action at the business in the past and will be following up on this complaint.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.