Canadian businessman and wife plead guilty to violating quarantine rules after flying to indigenous community to get Covid-19 vaccine

By Aya Elamroussi and Rebekah Riess, CNN

A Canadian businessman and his wife pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating quarantine requirements after flying to a small indigenous town in the Yukon territory and allegedly posing as local workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Rodney Baker, the former president and CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, and his wife Ekaterina Baker pleaded guilty to failure to adhere to an entry declaration form and failure to self-isolate.

The couple entered their pleas in Yukon Territorial Court and were each fined $575 per count, according to the court registry. Neither will face jail time.

The couple was not charged for receiving the vaccine, but rather for not following quarantine requirements after arriving in the Yukon territory from their home in Vancouver, British Columbia, according to court documents.

The couple was accused of violating Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act when they allegedly chartered a plane in Whitehorse and flew to Beaver Creek.

The Bakers were supposed to be self-isolating for 14 days in Whitehorse after arriving there on January 19, officials said. But according to a complaint made to law enforcement, the couple traveled to Beaver Creek on January 21.

Beaver Creek is small town in western Canada that is home to the White River First Nation indigenous community. It sits just a few miles from the Alaskan border.

When they arrived, the couple went to a mobile vaccination clinic in the area, officials said.

In January, Canada, like many countries around the world, was working to increase its vaccine supply. At the time, only about 1% of its population was vaccinated, according to government data. Indigenous communities were one of the groups given priority for Covid-19 vaccinations, according to Canada’s vaccine guidance.

Couple posed as local motel workers

Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker told CNN news partner CBC at the time that the couple claimed they were employees at a local motel.

The Bakers raised suspicions in the community when they asked for a ride to the airport after getting their vaccine shots, Streicker told CBC.

“And people were like, ‘Well, why would you be going to the airport?'” Streicker said.

An investigation began, and the couple was located at the Whitehorse airport. Yukon officials told CNN the couple left the territory the same day.

The mobile clinic team called the motel the couple claimed to work for and were informed they were not employed there, Streicker told CBC.

“I am outraged by this selfish behaviour, and find it disturbing that people would choose to put fellow Canadians at risk in this manner,” Streicker said in January.

The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, a hotel and casino company with 25 Canadian properties, told CNN when the charges were filed that effective January 24, Rodney Baker was no longer its president and CEO and is “no longer affiliated in any way with the company.”

“As a company, Great Canadian takes health and safety protocols extremely seriously, and our company strictly follows all directives and guidance issued by public health authorities in each jurisdiction where we operate,” the statement added.

The White River First Nation said in January it was “particularly concerned with the callous nature of these actions taken by the individuals, as they were a blatant disregard for the rules in which keep our community safe during this unprecedented global pandemic.”

CNN’s Madeline Holcombe, Paula Newton and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.