Sask. pub hopes to accommodate all customers — regardless of vaccination status

Grant Frew wants to be clear — the restaurant he manages isn't segregating the unvaccinated.

But the Bushwakker Brewpub in Regina needed an innovative solution when the province ended its proof of vaccination mandate on Monday.

“A lot of our clientele are older and they were telling us it’s been a nice ride, but when proof of vaccination is no longer required, you won’t see us for a while because we’re just not going to feel comfortable."

So he decided to repurpose a 50-person banquet room, which used to be used for private bookings, into a dining room for people who are vaccinated.

What started as a way to keep all customers satisfied turned into a barrage of miscommunication on Facebook.

“It’s not that we are segregating people, not at all. All customers are welcome, vaccinated and unvaccinated. Some of the unvaccinated comments were stating that they were being relegated to the side room, but it’s actually the vaccinated who are being relegated into the room if they so choose,” he said.

More than 300 comments popped up since he made the post, the kind of interest he’s never seen on his social media pages.

Many of the comments were from customers who liked the idea of offering a choice — and that's a concept that a Saskatoon mother is also trying to build on.

Katherine Stevenson is the president of At Risk Together Community Service Co-op school.

She has started a safer services directory so that families like hers who have an immunocompromised member know which businesses will keep masking or proof of vaccination requirements.

“Businesses that will continue to offer some level of risk mitigation going forward beyond Feb. 27 can add themselves to the list,” she said.

Eleven businesses are on the list, but Stevenson hopes that number grows.

Three of those businesses require proof of vaccination: Citizen Café, Woodbridge Veterinary Clinic and Saskatoon Pole and Dance Studio.