Former Great Canadian Gaming Corp. CEO Rod Baker and his actor wife Ekaterina Baker are facing opprobrium and possible jail time for allegedly flying across Canada in January 21 from Ontario to Yukon and violating Covid quarantine rules in order to get a vaccination out of order.
They were issued tickets in the Whitehorse airport as they prepared to fly out.
Their prosecution is being pushed by Janet VanderMeer, who leads the Covid response for her White River First Nation in the Canadian Yukon Territory. VanderMeer is frustrated that that the Crown prosecutor has agreed to delays in the court hearing.
She is pressing for the Bakers to be required to have a video conference with her Nation so they can experience the stress that their actions caused her people, she said. She says they put their elders at risk by appearing in a mobile vaccination clinic where they got vaccinated out of line.
She told the Globe & Mail: “I see nothing less than them having a conversation with not just myself, but with my people, and possibly some members of the community, and where they can own up to what has happened.”
Several days after their case became known, Baker resigned as CEO of the company that is the largest gaming corporation in Canada. He had run the company for a decade.
The former Great Canadian CEO has not made any public statements about the incident. He and his wife face a total of $2,300 in penalties for not self-isolating for 14 days when they arrived in the Yukon and for “failing to act in a manner consistent with their declarations.” They could possibly spend six months in jail if convicted.
