by: lisa cordasco
the owner of vernon’s fig eatery was “shocked and flabbergasted” by b.c.’s vaccine card announcement and says he will not ask his customers to show proof of vaccination before being served.
dave scarlatescu has complied with previous health orders that affected his fig eatery, including the mask mandate.
“i was happy to comply with mandates that weren’t impeding people’s freedom of choice or (were) minor inconveniences,” scarlatescu said thursday. “those had the interest of the greater good at heart.”
dave puhky, co-owner of the fitness academy in victoria, won’t comply because he doesn’t want to add to the divisions he sees in society.
“i do believe that we should have a choice of what we put in our body. and it’s not for me to decide,” said puhky.
scarlatescu and puhky are among b.c. business owners who have vowed to defy rules that will ban unvaccinated people from entry to restaurants, pubs, casinos, gyms, theatres and sporting events.
but one of the country’s leading experts in medical ethics says their arguments are flawed.
“we have a right to autonomy, to self-determination, and everybody is equal in that sense,” said eike-henner kluge, a university of victoria professor of philosophy. “but that right to autonomy stops when it puts others at risk or interferes with their rights.”