Tickets, popcorn, pop, candy, and, ultimately, proof of vaccination.
Come Sept. 13th, it’ll be the new reality if you plan on going to the movies in B.C.
Movie theatres are among the venues where you’ll need to show that you’ve had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, in order to get inside.
Landmark Cinemas has theatres in Courtenay, Campbell River, Nanaimo, and Port Alberni.
CEO Bill Walker, says that while they fully intend to enforce the health order starting in mid-September, he predicts that the rollout could be a bit messy to start.
“Only in the fact that there’s no standardized way of showing proof of vaccination, so training our staff, and in a general sense, we are going to need to use our more mature staff, to check the various pieces of proof that can be shown to us, checking ID to prove vaccination on the way in (to the theatre).”
Walker admits that he isn’t sure how the upcoming proof of vaccination mandate will impact business in the short term.
“Currently our numbers are improving, but still going through a challenging period, for sure,” he said.
“So by eliminating a section of the population, (it’s) certainly not positive, but ultimately if it makes the rest of the population feel exceedingly comfortable coming into the theatre because they know everyone is vaccinated, maybe that’s a positive.”
Walker says Landmark has complied with all of the previous health orders, adding that COVID vaccines play a key role in ending the pandemic.
He noted that if you buy your tickets online and don’t have proof of vaccination with you at the theatre, you’ll be given a full refund.
If a customer without proof of vaccination becomes unruly, he said they’ll call the local authorities.
“Ultimately, we’re not security professionals and we’re not in a position of taking a physical barrier from preventing someone from entering a facility. It’s not what us, or restaurants, or any venues are really trained to do,” Walker said.
“So if someone is going to take that confrontational position, then we are going to have to defer it to the appropriate authorities to actually engage in that discussion.”
