Bylaw doesn't understand archery! Edmonton's Wyld Pro Shop defies lockdown order

By Sheila Gunn Reid
|
February 06, 2021

By David Menzies

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Justin Watson owns Wyld Archery Pro Shop and Lanes in Edmonton. He sells archery, outdoor and hunting supplies next door to his indoor archery lanes.

However, only the retail part of the business part is technically allowed to be open to limited shopping capacity. The lanes, which are responsible for the majority of Wyld’s revenue, were ordered closed by the Alberta government mid-December when the government closed gyms, fitness facilities, restaurants and pubs to combat the rising COVID-19 case counts.

None of it made any sense to Watson since the closed “lanes” part of his business is the most socially distant part of the whole operation!

So Watson didn’t close the lanes. He kept them open for business survival and so avid archers like me don’t have to trudge through the deep snow and brave -30 degree temperatures to maintain our hunting skillset. Watson also refuses to police his customers’ mask use saying it’s none of his business since he is “not their doctor or their dad.”

It’s my kind of place. But now the Covid tattletales — who I think it’s a safe bet to assume have never picked up a bow in their lives — are sending Alberta Health Services after Watson for defying the lockdown. These busybodies want him fined and closed. I went out to visit Watson’s spotless shop for myself to tell his story. I promised Watson that if he received a lockdown ticket for the crime of entrepreneurship in a time of medically tyranny, Rebel News would be there to help him with a lawyer at no cost to him through www.FightTheFines.com.

If I can buy my arrows in a big box hunting store with 250 strangers, why can’t I go practice my sport with 3 friends I haven’t met yet at the Wyld lanes?

If you are a business owner like Justin Watson willing to defy the lockdown, reach out to Rebel News through our special portal www.IWillOpen.com and let us tell your story.

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