Welland Tribune e-edition

COVID-19 enforcement blitz shutters Niagara Falls attractions

Some operators believed they’d be able to open at least part of their businesses under Step 1

ALLAN BENNER

Some Niagara Falls attractions that tried to open some aspects of their operations have been shut down after recent visits from provincial inspectors.

Tim Parker from the Victoria Centre Business Improvement Association said different interpretations of the province’s Step 1 regulations left operators under the impression they’d be able to reopen at least some aspects of their businesses.

“But we all know anyone can interpret anything differently and the guy with the badge usually wins.”

Parker said Niagara Speedway go-karts, Niagara SkyWheel, Zipline to the Falls, Journey Behind the Falls and White Water Walk were among the attractions that were “unfortunately, affected by the inspections.”

“I know all of those types of operations were affected and are in question,” he said, while describing the provincial inspectors as “very polite, courteous and professional.”

“The inspectors felt that some of the points in the regulation that the owners were describing as part of their operation were not correct,” Parker said. “The owners had to explain why they should be open and why the regulation actually worked for them.”

Parker said even some golf courses that were permitted to reopen faced questions about specific aspects of their operations, such as golf cart passengers and other issues.

He said he was not aware of any fines issued to BIA businesses.

Parker said some of the inspections were done by Ministry of Transportation officers, rather than Ministry of Labour. And that may have added to uncertainty regarding regulations, because it doesn’t typically fall under the jurisdiction of MTO officers.

Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said the inspections are being co-ordinated by the Ministry of Labour, and conducted by a provincial team, including “inspectors from multiple

ministries all working together to hit lots of different places.”

“The whole idea of this campaign is to bring in a big group of people to inspect a whole bunch of places in short period of time.”

Hirji said the inspections which began last week will continue for the next few days, “and that will be the end of the campaign.” Bylaw officers will then continue enforcement efforts on an ongoing basis, he added.

Hirji couldn’t provide any specific details about businesses that were impacted until inspection reports are available next week.

“Attractions and the like, those obviously couldn’t reopen yet,” Hirji said.

This is the third time the region has called in the province to ensure businesses are meeting COVID-19 restrictions.

A previous inspection blitz was conducted in December, and another in late January.

“We worked with them to come back for this two-round campaign this time, because we’re obviously reopening and we want to make sure everything is as good as possible, so we don’t see any rise in cases,” Hirji said.

Although he said there are no plans to call in provincial inspectors for a fourth time, he didn’t rule it out.

“If it made sense to have another campaign (with the province), we would obviously ask them again,” Hirji said.

Meanwhile, Parker said uncertainty about reopening plans has led to confusion and frustration among businesses.

“All we ask for is to give us a little bit more definite times and stop swaying,” he said. “It really impacts how we operate and how we manage staff, how we put our food orders in an anything we need to operate that business.

“It’s not like a light switch, today we turn it on and tomorrow we turn it off. It’s very involved.”

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2021-06-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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