A local coffee shop had to call police after a group of anti-mask proponents refused to leave one of its stores on Monday.
On Monday evening, Planet Bean posted the reminder to its social media channels asking that customers not enter without a mask following an incident earlier that day at its Grange Plaza location that saw a group of about eight people enter the store not wearing masks seeking service.
After they refused to leave, police were eventually called and the people eventually left the store.
Sarah Copoc was working at the Grange Planet Bean when she saw people gathering in the parking lot.
A fellow employee confirmed to her that some in the group had asked to be served the day before and had refused to wear masks.
“We were like ‘oh no what is happening?’ It’s pretty intimidating to see more and more people come into the group,” said Copoc.
She said the group of about eight people entered the small Grange store and demanded to be served.
“We just said ‘could you please put on a mask or we can serve you at the door’ and they said no,” said Copoc.
For about 20 minutes staff attempted to find a solution for the group to be served, said Copoc, but couldn't’ come to an agreement. Eventually the group was asked to leave and refused to do so.
During that time Copoc said there were customers outside who couldn't come in the coffee shop because the group who refused to leave was already more than the maximum capacity of the small space.
“We have masks. If someone doesn’t have one we are more than happy to give them one. We have also had groups come in where someone can’t wear a mask,” said Copoc. “We don’t encourage big groups to come in anyway, so we ask if one person with a mask can come in. They just weren’t really listening to our solutions anyway.”
"I believe a customer outside (not affiliated with the group) was the one who called the cops because he was on the inside when they came in the building,” said Copoc.
Const. Kyle Grant of the Guelph Police Service confirmed that officers responded to the location at 3:42 p.m. on Monday.
Although there is a Public Health advisory in place regarding mask wearing at indoor establishments, Grant noted the primary concern for police at the time was the people refusing to leave after being asked to do so by management.
“At any moment if the owner or anybody in control of the property asks a member of the public to leave, they must leave immediately. That’s regardless of if it’s a business or a private residence,” said Grant.
It’s not up to police to determine if someone thinks their right to not wear a mask have been infringed, said Grant.
“If they feel they have been discriminated against or mistreated, then there are different routes they can take at that point. The three major avenues are filing a complaint with the business, sue the business or file a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal,” said Grant.
After police responded and spoke to the group, they left the premises, said Grant.
“We are going to approach these situations with an education first-approach and then possibly move to enforcement, if necessary. This was resolved with education so no enforcement was necessary,” he said.
Planet Bean co-owner Bill Barrett declined to speak about the specifics of the incident but issued the following statement:
“We are owned by our workers through a worker co-operative structure and therefore give high priority to ensuring the health and safety of our workers,” said Barrett. “We can accommodate people who cannot wear masks by serving them outside.”
Copoc said she is not really surprised at the tense situation caused by the group who refused to wear masks.
“Everyone is feeling stress and afraid right now and it shows itself in strange ways,” she said.
