Canada’s movie theatre association calls out ‘absurdity’ of B.C. theatre closures

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A trade organization representing Canada’s movie theatres is calling on B.C. health officials to explain why cinemas in the province can only open if they’re operating as restaurants or bars.

This comes just days after Vancouver’s Rio Theatre announced it was planning to re-brand as a sports bar.

On Tuesday, the iconic East Vancouver establishment put up a sign in their marquee reading, “Screw the Arts, We’re a Sports Bar Now.” It is moving forward with plans to reopen on Saturday, pivoting to operating as a bar.

“We decided that because nothing’s going to change until February 5 and we see people playing the sporting events all over town — if you can’t beat them, join them,” Rio owner Corinne Lea said on Tuesday. “So we’ve decided to become a real sports bar, and we’re going to be open daily with sports playing on our big screen.”

Vancouver’s Hollywood Theatre made a similar move in December.

Nuria Bronfman, executive director of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada, says COVID-19 guidelines that allow theatres to project sporting events on the big screen, but not movies, “highlights the kind of absurdity of what’s happening” in the province.

Related article: Vancouver’s Rio Theatre ‘likely’ can turn into sports bar, according to Ministry of Health

Provincial health orders have seen movie theatres shuttered since November, though bars and restaurants have been allowed to stay open.

Re-brandings by the Rio and Hollywood theatres were applauded by the province’s health ministry in a statement that recognized “the arts and culture sector who have worked hard to find new ways to reinvent themselves during the pandemic.”

Bronfman says the movie theatre group takes issue with suggestions that movie theatres should be embracing “ingenuity in order to survive.”

-With files from Jonathan Szekeres and Nikitha Martins

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