Vancouver couple pleads guilty, fined after travelling to Yukon for COVID shot
Posted June 16, 2021 11:24 am.
Last Updated June 16, 2021 1:53 pm.
WHITEHORSE – A husband and wife from Vancouver who flew to a remote Yukon community to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in January have each pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the territory’s Civil Emergency Measures Act.
Rodney Baker, the former CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corp., and his wife, Ekaterina, appeared remotely in a Whitehorse courtroom Wednesday.
They plead guilty to failing to self-isolate for 14 days and failing to act in a manner consistent with their declarations upon arriving in Yukon.
Each Baker has been ordered to pay $575 for each count, totalling $2,300 between them.
THREAD: Wealthy #Vancouver couple Rodney and Ekaterina Baker fined maximum $575 each for being “vaccine tourists” in #Yukon.
Judge imposes no jail time based on mitigating circumstances which include quick guilty plea, remorse and charitable donations made.#bcpoli @NEWS1130 https://t.co/nJMRy4rWHl— Marcella Bernardo (@MBernardoNews) June 16, 2021
The court heard on Wednesday the couple chartered a plane to Beaver Creek, a small community near the Alaska border, where they were vaccinated at a mobile clinic before flying back to Whitehorse. They each received one dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Territorial enforcement officers later intercepted the couple as they were in line to fly back to Vancouver and handed them violation tickets.
…They pre-registered online for vaccines at clinic in Beaver Creek
They flew back to #Whitehorse via private charter on same day
*Judge is now reviewing their prepared statement
— Marcella Bernardo (@MBernardoNews) June 16, 2021
Their actions have been heavily criticized, with B.C.’s public safety minister previously calling the “moral lapse in judgement” despicable.
“It is beyond comprehension how someone could go to such lengths to do such a disgusting thing when the vaccines are being rolled out. Every Canadian who wants to be vaccinated is going to be able to be vaccinated. It’s just an unbelievable case of a sense entitlement,” he tells NEWS 1130.
