An AHS public health employee posts a notice Tuesday at Bladez to Fadez Barbershop (Still shot taken from Facebook video posted by Bladez to Fadez Barbershop)

By Sheldon Spackman

Open For Business

Innisfail barbershop opens as promised, AHS orders it close

Jan 12, 2021 | 5:55 PM

True to her word, an Innisfail barbershop owner opened her chair to customers on Tuesday in defiance of provincial public health restrictions.

Natalie Klein had told rdnewsNOW that the risk of a fine for opening up Bladez to Fadez Barbershop was “on the backburner” as she was concerned over the loss of her lifelong dream over having to stay closed by order of the province.

An AHS Environmental Public Health official showed up at the barbershop on Tuesday to carry out an inspection and issue an order to close.

“As the facility was operating and taking client appointments, a closure order was issued for failure to comply with Public Health Order 42, as issued by Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health,” says AHS spokesperson Heather Kipling.

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“At this time, hairstyling and barbering services are not permitted to operate under the current public health restrictions. Failure to comply with the closure order could result in fines up to $5,000 per day for which businesses are found to be in violation.”

Kipling notes Environmental Public Health will continue to inspect all businesses that have been issued a Public Health order, to ensure compliance.

Cpl. Laurel Scott with RCMP Alberta K Division confirms Mounties in Innisfail were made aware of the situation and attended along with public health inspectors.

“The RCMP perspective is that we have a public health order in place and everybody should follow the public health order,” says Scott.

“We educate and give people an opportunity to comply with what they’re being asked to do with the public health order. That’s been our position at the beginning and will remain our position. Our objective is to get people to comply because it’s the compliance that’s really going to help this province.”

“I recognize that business owners are being impacted by the restrictions and that these are causing hardships for many individuals. I also recognize that if we do not have an approach that involves all of our community members working together to prevent spread we risk having more deaths and increasing the burden on our healthcare system,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday.

“What I would say is important is what I have always said (AHS) Public Health does when those owners of businesses or others are not following the rules in place, which is to first approach them, understand what their reasons are for making those decisions, make sure they understand the rules that are in place and the reasons for them and then that there will be consequences for not following those rules.”

“That is what our communities need right now. We need to work together to be able to prevent the spread of COVID and for those that are impacted by the restrictions needing to be supported by the community so that we can again reach out and work together to support those whose health is being impacted by our measures and those whose health is being impacted by COVID-19.”

Premier Jason Kenney announced last week that Alberta’s enhanced public health restrictions ordering the closure of personal services businesses to help prevent COVID-19 spread will be in effect through at least Jan. 21.