Business is booming for Chris Scott, the owner of The Whistle Stop Cafe in the small Alberta town of Mirror..That might be because he’s the only restaurant open in Alberta..Scott decided to flout provincial pandemic regulations and opened his restaurant on Jan. 21. He said he has received overwhelming support, and daily visits from the Mounties..Just before lunch on Tuesday, Scott received a ticket from the authorities. He’s been ordered to make a court appearance on April 22. He faces sanctions ranging from a fine to imprisonment..“The law is garbage – it”s doing more harm than good,” said Scott in an Tuesday interview with The Western Standard..“It’s also a financial issue, my sister and I were just sitting back and watching our savings dwindle.”. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .Scott is the only gas station/cafe in the town of about 500, 50 km northeast of Red Deer, and now he’s getting people from all over the province stopping in. A man from Canmore grabbed a bite Tuesday morning on his way to Edmonton.. D22820AB-276E-4158-A3E0-85E169C7B11DThe Whistle Stop. Photo by Darcy Gerow .“If they want to throw me in jail for trying to earn a living, go ahead,” said Scott, who could face a raft of penalties from fines, loss of his liquor licence and even jail..Scott has owned the cafe since July 2019, but it has been a fixture in town since 1967..Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Monday there are no plans to ease any restrictions as the province is now being hit with variant strains of the COVID-19 virus from Great Britain and South Africa..“That’s not acceptable. We are just going to have variant after variant…this is destroying families, this is destroying businesses, this is destroying the mental health of Albertans,” said Scott..The Whistle Stop announced on Friday on Facebook they would be reopening..“We are currently in contravention of the public health order AHS set forth (on) Dec. 12, 2020 and allowing dining in. I (am) personally committed to continuing to protest the unfair, poorly thought out, totalitarian, Charter rights infringing rules laid out by AHS and I’m asking that they review these rules and allow small business to survive just as they’re allowing large corporations,” said the statement..“The RCMP have told us that they will uphold their responsibility to enforce unjustified and unfair AHS orders by a) notifying customers that they are breaking the rules by dining in, b) issue citations and fines to customers who refused to leave, c) remove customers by placing them under arrest for obstruction of ‘justice.’. 60A45C9F-E927-420D-B5BD-EA5364B23ADDThe Whistle Stop. Photo by Darcy Gerow .“AHS has told us that the next enforcement actions will include fines, asking (Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis) to revoke our liquor license, complete closure of our business, arrests and orders to appear in court..“We need to know other small business are going to join us in fighting against tyrannical overreach perpetuated by Alberta Health Services, Deena Hinshaw, and the Alberta government. We need this to go viral on social media so that we may reach people or organizations who can help us and other business in Alberta. We will need legal expertise and assistance.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
