How London business owners feel about Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine passport

Beginning Sept. 22 you'll need to be fully vaccinated to enter many non-essential businesses. You'll have to prove it too, along with a piece of ID if you want to dine indoors or sit around a bar with friends.

A system using QR codes and an app to verify them will come a month later. 

The province says "this approach focuses on higher-risk indoor public settings where face coverings cannot always be worn." However, masks will still be required. 

So, CBC London asked these businesses how they feel about Ontario's vaccine passport plan:

The Closet Inc.

Kiara Ferrell, the Chief Operating Officer of The Closet Inc., won't need customers to prove their vaccine status since it's a retail store. She sees this as "a very positive thing for" the boutique.

"As a retail store, you know, it's very hard for us to try and enforce something like that with the customers that we have because some are more than willing to do it," she said.

"But others will see it as pretty much, actually, discrimination against them. And we don't want to do that to them," said Ferrell.

Winks Eatery

Dennis Winkler, the general manager of Winks Eatery likes the idea of a vaccine passport plan — so long as his restaurant isn't the only one implementing it. 

"Nobody wants to be the one person that starts on their own and getting people upset," he said. "It's the government's place to put these rules in effect for everybody."

The Church Key Bistro-Pub

Peter Willis, part owner of the Church Key Bistro-Pub, likes the idea of a vaccine certificate. 

"I know some people are going to disagree with me," he said, "But I think it's probably a good idea to let people in the public know where they stand when they enter a place."