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Angry Indo-Canadian Hall Owners Ban All NDP Functions For Not Listening Or Consulting On Closures
Grand Taj Banquet Hall’s Kirpal Singh Sooch told DESIBUZZCanada photojournalist Sukhwant Singh Dhillon that the NDP didn’t listen to their concerns and refused to set up a meeting with Dr. Henry so they decided that the best course of action is to ban the party from holding any function at their Association’s halls. “We have jointly announced that we will not allow any NDP fundraisers or party functions at our halls and that is fine,” Sooch said. The ban and boycott does not NDP party MLAs who may attend other functions at the halls organized by third parties, Sooch told DESIBUZZCanada. PHOTOS By Sukhwant Singh Dhillon
By DESIBUZZCanada Staff
VANCOUVER – Angry Indo-Canadians gathered at Aria Banquet Hall to announce that they will be boycotting and banning all BC NDP functions at their halls because they were not consulted before the latest shutdown of banquet halls and night clubs.
This week, BC provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry ordered all nightclubs and banquet halls to close once again after a steep rise in daily cases which is contributing to the rising number of active cases at the centre of the widening spread.
In addition, all liquor sales in all bars, pubs and restaurants in the province must cease by 10 p.m. and must close by 11 p.m. unless full meal service is still being provided. If full meal service is still being provided past 11 p.m. that may continue but alcohol is not allowed to be served.
In their latest press conference, the hall owners contend that NDP refused to listen to their concerns and didn’t consult them before shutting them down. At the previous press conference, they had actually urged the government to shut them down as they couldn’t control their clients who refused to bide by the COVID-19 rules, including not having more than 50 people at the parties.
Grand Taj Banquet Hall’s Kirpal Singh Sooch told DESIBUZZCanada photojournalist Sukhwant Singh Dhillon that the NDP didn’t listen to their concerns and refused to set up a meeting with Dr. Henry so they decided that the best course of action is to ban the party from holding any function at their Association’s halls.
“We have jointly announced that we will not allow any NDP fundraisers or party functions at our halls and that is fine,” Sooch said.
The ban and boycott does not NDP party MLAs who may attend other functions at the halls organized by third parties, Sooch told DESIBUZZCanada.
The ban brings into play an interesting dilemma as many of the hall owners are divided politically across NDP-BC Liberal lines and it remains to be seen what the NDP aligned halls will do once they are allowed to open, especially given that with the provincial election on the horizon, there will be many fundraisers in Surrey for incumbent and new candidates as well as party functions.
“They know the election is coming up so they are using this as a political ploy but we are not in regular times and the pandemic makes it tough for any political party to cave into demands of businesses but it sets up a unique challenge for the front-running NDP, who may now delay the election till next spring,” said one South Asian political Observer.
On Tuesday, the province reported 429 new cases of COVID-19 over the previous four days, including the Labour Day weekend. B.C. now has a total of 6,591 cases.
Previously, Henry announced that all patrons attending nightclubs must be seated at a designated seat. Further, there can be no liquor self-service, no dance floors, and establishments must take new steps to reduce lineups and choke points.
Banquet halls were allowed to re-open with new social distancing rules in place, however, B.C. has seen some community outbreaks due to private events not following proper health guidelines.
“It is the time for all of us to cut back on our social interactions,” Henry said Tuesday.
“It means having fewer contacts with other people, particularly people we don’t know.”
Henry said they understand these establishments have really tried to do what they can to keep everyone safe but with the numbers rising, they need to put these measures in place to make sure everyone can be kept safe.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said he knows everyone is tired of the restrictions but we need to persevere in order to flatten the curve once again.
