Health officials shut Kelowna restaurant for refusing to check vaccine passports
Renegade Kitchen and Craft Bar is closed, liquor licence suspended
Interior Health has shut down a restaurant in Kelowna, B.C., for failing to comply with the province's vaccine mandate.
Renegade Kitchen and Craft Bar has publicly stated it would not check vaccine status as required by provincial government health orders.
Documents taped to the restaurant's windows outline weeks of demands from the health authority and management's refusals to comply.
"The investigation took place after public health received a number of complaints that this establishment was not checking proof of immunization," Interior Health said in a written statement.
The restaurant can reopen once it provides a written plan of compliance, including confirmation that the vaccine passport requirement will be enforced, the health authority said.
Interior Health says this is its first closure order filed because of pandemic mandate violations.
A separate notice from the B.C. Liquor Board informed the restaurant its licence is suspended pending heath inspector approval.
CBC News has reached out to the restaurant for comment.
The Renegade's doors were locked Friday.
Hope restaurant remains defiant
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Fraser Health suspended the business licence of Rolly's Restaurant in Hope, for failing to check for proof of vaccination.
The restaurant was still operating Friday and was fined $100 by the District of Hope.
Rolly's faces a $100 fine for every day it remains open.
Fraser Health may have to seek a court injunction to force any closure.