What happens if you walk into a store without a mask?
It’s a proposition few British Columbians have dared test in recent weeks, especially since Nov. 19, when provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a sweeping mandatory mask policy in indoor public spaces. That order, signed into law Nov. 24, requires the donning of a medical or non-medical mask in all public indoor spaces; exceptions apply to children under 12, those with certain health or cognitive conditions and when people are eating or drinking, among others.
But on the ground, enforcing a mandatory mask policy is more complicated, and short of calling in police, at least one Coquitlam grocery chain is treading carefully.
On a recent visit to a Save-On-Foods at the corner of Lougheed Highway and Pinetree Avenue, Coquitlam resident Michael Lasruk said he witnessed a woman checking out without a mask.
“My initial thoughts were, masks must not be mandatory anymore, so I asked the security guard at the entrance to the store,” wrote Lasruk in an email.
Lasruk said the security guard said they do not enforce a mandatory mask policy, or “even verbally request customers wear masks.” Instead, staff defer to signs posted at the door and leave the enforcement up to police.
Not satisfied, Lasruk said he reached out to Coquitlam RCMP and was passed on to city bylaw officers, who “stated it was not their responsibility to enforce or request people wear masks,” according to Lasruk.
But according to Aaron Hilgerdenaar, Coquitlam’s manager of bylaw enforcement and animal services, the city has created an in-house COVID-19 compliance team comprised of both bylaw and business licensing staff.
Working “evenings, weekends and during the day,” the team has so far conducted hundreds of inspections at the request of Fraser Health, said the manager.
“If we receive a complaint about a business, we follow up with every business,” he said, noting it’s often not feasible to attend complaints in real-time.
Bylaw officers do not have the ability to ticket or enter into an escalated situation pitting a customer against a business. Instead, confirmed Hilgerdenaar, bylaw officers act as the eyes and ears in the community, tapping Coquitlam RCMP should it become necessary, while at the same time the city holds in reserve powers to revoke a business licence and issue a $500 fine.
So far, it hasn’t come to that, and Hilgerdenaar said most businesses and individuals have been doing their part to maintain compliance with health and safety orders, including mandatory masking.
“We’ve found the community is self-policing,” he said.
But recent weeks, the mandatory mask policy has led to some high-profile conflicts at businesses across B.C. In one instance, a Walmart employee was violently assaulted after he asked for a customer to put on a mask; in another, a similar request led a customer to spit upon a worker, triggering a heart attack and sending her to hospital.
In an email to the Tri-City News, a spokesperson for Save-On-Foods said the safety and security of staff and customers remains a high priority for the grocery chain.
Staff members, added the spokesperson, are especially vigilant around the issue of mask usage “given the increasing escalation in tensions and violence in the workplace being driven by the emotions around COVID-19 and its related restrictions.”
In an education-first approach, the spokesperson said the grocery store has posted signage at the door, offers face masks at their service desks and plays pre-recorded PA announcements regarding in-store mask usage.
“We cannot make assumptions about our customers and are cognizant that we don’t always know on the surface if the customer has a condition that prevents them from wearing a mask,” added the spokesperson.
“We are following the orders of our public health officials and expect our customers to do the same.”
— With files from Diane Strandberg
