J.A.K.K. Tuesdays remains open despite Superior Court Order
J.A.K.K. Tuesdays Sports Pub in Kingston’s west end remains open after repeated non-compliance with the Section 22 Order issued against it on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, and despite being served with a Superior Court Order.
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) Public Health representatives and Sheriffs from the Superior Court of Justice attended J.A.K.K Tuesdays on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 to serve the Court Order, and were accompanied by Kingston Police officers.
“KFL&A Public Health was successful in their application to the Superior Court of Justice for an injunction to uphold the requirements of Dr. Oglaza’s Section 22 Order for J.A.K.K. Tuesdays Sports Pub,” the local Health Unit said in a statement.
“KFLA Public Health will continue to work with the owner/operator of J.A.K.K. Tuesdays and local authorities to gain compliance with the order and mitigate the risk of communicable disease transmission at this facility and in our community,” the statement continued, noting that Public Health Inspectors have “confirmed continued non-compliance with the requirements of the Order during visits to the bar this week and last.
Public Health said they could no longer provide further comment on this matter, as it is now before the courts.
Sgt. Steve Koopman confirmed the police presence on Wednesday night.
“We attended last night to simply standby and keep the peace while Sheriffs served a Superior Court Order on Kelly Hale, the owner of J.A.K.K. Tuesdays,” Koopman said on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021.
Both the Section 22 and Superior Court Orders came after Hale’s business licence for J.A.K.K. Tuesday’s was revoked by the City of Kingston, and after the business’ liquor licence was suspended on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Owner Hale has made it clear he does not intend to comply with provincial COVID-19 orders under the Reopening Ontario Act, particularly the enforcement of mandatory proof of vaccination upon entrance to the bar.
Those intentions were made even clearer as J.A.K.K. Tuesdays once again reopened today, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, despite having been served the Court Order the night before. Customers continued to attend the bar and, as of 4 p.m., Kingston Police had also attended, along with representatives from KFL&A Public Health.
After confirming the business was still open to the public, Public Health officials questioned Hale as to whether he had started to adhere to public health regulations with regard to enforcing proof of vaccination and taking down contact information, which he confirmed he was not doing. They then looked at the signage on in the windows of J.A.K.K. Tuesdays, confirming that Hale has not removed it as per the Section 22 Order, and asked if he had put up any of the signage given to him by Public Health.
“Probably not,” Hale responded, noting that he hadn’t gone through all of the paperwork from Public Health yet. “I haven’t had time to go through all of it yet, so…”
“OK. All right,” the KFL&A Public Health representative responded, before Hale indicated he would likely do so tonight and the Public Health representative responded, “You likely should.”
“What’s the immediate and imminent danger here?” Hale then asked of the Public Health officials.
“That’s a question that you’d have to ask my manager,” one of the two Public Health representatives responded.
“Why do I have to ask your manager? You’re the one who’s here, why can’t you answer it? You’re the one that’s enforcing it,” Hale posed, his smart phone aimed at the representatives throughout the conversation, as was the phone of a man who accompanied Hale into the parking lot.
“We’re here for protocol,” the Public Health worker responded, prompting a laugh from the man accompanying Hale.
“So, you can’t answer that question?” Hale retorted.
“I don’t want to get into that,” the Public Health representative said, noting that all he was there to do was enforce the ROA, which is his job.
After the squabble died down, all three parties – those with Kingston Police, KFL&A Public Health, and Hale and his associate – parted ways wishing one another a good evening.
It is unclear how long J.A.K.K. Tuesdays will be able to continue operating while in violation of a multitude of Orders and Legislation. Kingstonist will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.
With files from Cris Vilela.
I have never believed in threats without teeth- either put a lock on the business or give it up!! Clearly Hale will not comply. Clearly it is a self centred decision- either agree to let him break public health orders or grow a pair and lock the doors!! I am tired of Kingston’s soft approach to all this bs in our community!!!!!!
Interesting! By-laws and public directives can be challenged this easily. While I disagree with the owner’s uneducated viewpoint, his question should be pretty easy to answer by a public health employee, this answer should be provided in the order to comply, as the reason for the mandate, no? Nonetheless, enforce the laws.
You have to wonder how long they will allow this civil disobedience to continue and what Mr Hale is thinking of how this will end? Is he using “I have nothing to lose at this point” logic. In this case, other people do have something to lose, when laws are not followed.