How restaurants have been handling Nova Scotia's new proof-of-vaccine policy

It's been five days since Nova Scotia implemented its COVID-19 proof-of-vaccine policy for non-essential services, such as gyms, bars and restaurants.

Since Monday, people who want to eat at restaurants have been required to prove they've received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by showing a paper or digital record, plus their ID.

Portia Clark, host of CBC Radio's Information Morning, spoke to Gordon Stewart, the head of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, on Friday about how restaurants are handling the new policy.

This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.

Overall, what have you been hearing from your membership?

Generally, it went relatively smoothly. Certainly, there's a lot of hiccups when we're introducing something new like this to the sector, so there were some hiccups right across the province.

We had people showing up with their proof of vaccination, but didn't have identification because they assumed they didn't have to have it, so that meant they weren't allowed to be in the restaurant, which obviously caused some frustration with some customers.

There's some problems that are still lingering out there, and I expect those will probably continue for the next week or so.

Have you heard anything about people showing up without proof of vaccination and insisting they be seated?

There definitely have been some of those, for sure. Some people were not aware of the rules at all, which is surprising. But again, they learn very quickly that they need to have it to get in.

One of the things that's different from when we were restricted more in restaurants last time [is]there are more sectors restricted now,like large events like hockey games and the Wanderer Grounds and theatres you have to have proof of vaccination plus your ID.

That makes a huge difference. Now more people are prepared for it.

I've heard of at least one instance in which the RCMP had to be called. How common has that been?

It's not common, but definitely we've had to have police and enforcement officers intervene. In some cases some people wouldn't leave and in some cases the restaurant wasn't taking the proof of vaccination or the ID, so there's a little bit of issues on both sides of the fence.

Can restaurants keep a list of their regular customers' vaccination record so they don't have to show proof every time?

Yes, that is OK. It's reasonable that if you have regular good customers and you [check] them in terms of their proof of vaccination plus their ID, then you can keep a record of that.Afterwards, you accept the responsibility as the owner or operator that they have already been tested before.

As the restaurant association, how have you been helping restaurants deal with the anxiety, but also the actual situations that they might be confronted with?

It's not an easy thing when waiters and waitresses are hired I don't suspect they're meant to be a bouncer or a doorman so this is an added effort on their part, and I think it's stressful on them. That's not an easy thing for people to do. Some do it better than others, but that's not why they were hired soit's very challenging.

There's a website [workers] can go to for tough customers, for bullying, things like that. We also highly recommend that they don't engage at all. Like if someone doesn't want to show their vaccination or even some people that don't want to wear their mask, we're saying don't engage with them, just turn around and call the police immediately.

All the police departments and the different enforcement officers are aware of these situations. There have been a few fines handed out already, so [customers] want to stay in line so they won't get that fine.

How helpful is the information on that website in terms of dealing with bullies in a restaurant or a bar?

It's reasonably good. I think good common sense will serve you well too. The biggest thing is the confrontation don't be in confrontation mode. There's no value to that. It's not going to add any value to the situation.

It's only going to make it worse and it will resolve itself. It might take five minutes and might take 15 minutes, but they're not going to get served, so they're not going to stay there forever.

Something that might come up in that situation is the people who work at the restaurant don't have to prove they're vaccinated. The patrons do. Is that possibly a source of conflict?

It could be, but it's highly recommended. It's not mandated to have a vaccine, but we are asking that [employees] have a test before you go to the shift. No one should work in a restaurant in Nova Scotia who either hasn't been fully vaccinated or tested before they go on the shift.

Why aren't you recommending to your membership that they make that COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for the staff?

We'rerecommending that no one work in a restaurant [unless they have been vaccinated] or has hadtherapid test.

What if you go into a restaurant, you're not asked for your proof of vaccination or your identification? What should you do about that?

Well, if you're a consumer, I think you should raise that issue. The fine for an operator not asking is about $7,500. It's not something you want to [not do].

It's possible someone might forget to do that, but I don't think so given the circumstances now. It's more likely that they didn't want to do it and that is an offence under the Health Act right now.