Enforcement officer taunted while issuing health-order ticket, business owner claims

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This article was published 13/07/2021 (1917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Transcona upholsterer says he’s considering closing his doors after 45 years in business after he and his wife were allegedly harassed while receiving a $5,000 ticket from a COVID-19 health-order enforcement officer.

Ron’s Custom Upholstery owner Ron Schaweel said he’s followed every COVID-19 rule thrown at him in the last 16 months, but was handed the hefty fine after two bylaw officers walked in last Thursday and saw his wife sitting at a computer with a mask on, but pulled down.

His wife works in a corner of the office and doesn’t interact with the public. The officers ticketed Schaweel $5,000 for the offence.

“You can’t explain it, you can’t do anything, you can’t say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll just slide it up,’ they just barge in and it’s ‘I caught you,’ like we were set up,” he said.

He called the ticket a “total money grab” that was targeting a small business while big-box stores continue to flout rules.

“After all this time, we’ve done absolutely everything we can other than close the doors permanently… we’re right across the street from Costco; there’s been 500 people lined up there daily, some with masks, some with no masks — we see what goes on,” he said.

He was shocked when one of the two officers then began to berate him. He said the man provoked him by telling him he was enjoying handing out tickets to people like Schaweel — a situation that became “totally off-the-wall,” he said.

“I’m all for health, I’m all for safety, we’ve all got our double vaccines, I’ve paid my staff (time off) to get their vaccines done, and then we have this kid walk in here, and just keep poking and poking… this guy should not be out serving the public,” he said.

He said when he asked the officer for his name and badge number, he hid his name using his finger.

“There’s no way this person should be out doing the job he’s doing, then telling me he’s ‘just having fun,’” he said. “This is what you call fun? Harassing people?”

A spokesperson for the province said identifying information about the officer issuing a fine is on the ticket.

“The individuals enforcing Manitoba’s public-health orders are trained professionals with backgrounds in enforcement,” the spokesperson said. “The province investigates all complaints received.”

Schaweel has had trouble filing a complaint and said he has consulted a lawyer to decide his next steps, but the situation has left a sour taste after his decades as a business owner.

“This is enough to just make me close the doors and say goodbye Manitoba,” he said. “It’s stupid. It really is.”

Ron’s Custom Upholstery was one of two businesses to receive a $5,000 ticket announced in the province’s last COVID-19 fines update. The other was X Cue’s Billiards and Café on Sargent Avenue. Manitoba Justice said a total of 57 warnings and 15 tickets were issued between July 5 and 11.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_