Last Wednesday, a wealthy Vancouver couple pleaded guilty to jumping the line to get Covid vaccines in the Yukon.
Rod Baker is the former president and chief executive of Great Canadian Gaming, and Ekaterina Baker is an actress. But these days, they may be better known for traveling by private plane to the remote community of Beaver Creek and misrepresenting themselves to get their first doses. The Bakers reportedly ignored the territory’s 14-day Covid protocols, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.
The millionaire couple received fines of $1,150 each in a case that carried a maximum punishment of six months’ incarceration. According to the Toronto Star, some locals say they should be jailed for what they did. “People have been pretty pissed off at what happened,” said Carmen Hinson, owner of Buckshot Betty’s Restaurant and Cafe.
Beaver Creek is populated by several dozen members of the White River First Nation, a few dozen other and what the Star called “a handful of Canada Border Services guards and (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officers.”
“As First Nations people, we have been abused for so long. Enough is enough,” said Janet Vander Meer, Beaver Creek’s volunteer Covid-19 coordinator. “The Bakers used the community of Beaver Creek. They put the entire community in danger. The fact that prosecutors aren’t even talking about jail time is disheartening.
Hinson said the fines are the equivalent of pocket change for the Bakers. “
“What’s five hundred bucks to them? Nothing at all. There should either be a much bigger fine or the prosecutors should be looking for jail time, or both … Just because they have money doesn’t mean they can get away with something like this.”
Bessie Chassé, chief of the White River First Nation, issued a statement saying, “Issuing a fine to the entitled elite, without additional punishment, would have little to no effect. It would not send a sufficient message to others who may choose to behave in this fashion in the future.”
She said residents were especially concerned about Covid-19, as Beaver Creek has just one medical station, one nurse and no doctor. Locals who become severely ill or need treatment must travel almost 300 miles for care.
It’s not as if Rod Baker faced no further consequences for his actions, the Star reported. In the aftermath of charges, he had to resign his job as CEO of Great Canadian Gaming. However, he could see a windfall when the company’s takeover by U.S.-based Apollo Funds is completed later this quarter. In 2019, Baker took home more than $10 million, including a $900,000 salary and $9 million-plus in stock options.
