West Kelowna gym plays ball with Interior Health for April reopening

Brian Mark is looking forward to welcoming members back into his West Kelowna gym next week, with approval from Interior Health this time. Closure orders reinforced by a court order are set to be lifted on April 8, once B.C. lifts the COVID-19 vaccine passport requirement. "Since...

West Kelowna gym plays ball with Interior Health for April reopening

Brian Mark is looking forward to welcoming members back into his West Kelowna gym next week, with approval from Interior Health this time.

Closure orders reinforced by a court order are set to be lifted on April 8, once B.C. lifts the COVID-19 vaccine passport requirement.

"Since we got shut down, I realized I had to take a different approach," Mark, Iron Energy Gym co-owner, said.

In an ongoing quarrel with the health authority, going back at least to a December closure order for all B.C. gyms due to the Omicron variant, he challenged Interior Health for enforcing public health orders he viewed as an overstep.

But as he tries to reopen the gym, Mark said he's going to cooperate with Interior Health so he can ensure the closure order will be dropped.

"We negotiated that I would not come at Interior Health anymore. In turn, we get the gym," he said.

Mark garnered social media followers and directed them to embark on an email campaign aimed at Interior Health, the City of West Kelowna and MLAs in the region.

Iron Energy Gym led those followers to call on governments to reopen gyms during the temporary closure order, claiming them to be important for the mental health of their members.

Interior Health slapped the gym with more than 20 fines, along with a B.C. Supreme Court-enforced closure order. The ongoing court injunction stipulates that an owner or employer opening the gym for patrons risks arrest.

The court injunction is scheduled to last for six months from Feb. 18 or until the closure order is lifted, whichever comes first.

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