Toronto police ready to arrest anyone who obstructs ambulances at anti-vaccine protest, mayor says
Toronto Mayor John Tory is condemning any participation in a protest at hospital doors ahead of a planned anti-vax rally at Toronto General Hospital Monday, warning that police are prepared to arrest anyone who blocks ambulance access to the facility.
“We all have a right to protest but abusing that right in order to harass people outside a hospital and spread misinformation about vaccines in the middle of the pandemic is unacceptable and beyond the pale,” Tory said in a statement Sunday evening.
“It’s unfair to our healthcare heroes and everyone trying to attend hospitals for treatment.”
In a post on social media, Toronto police reiterated this sentiment, saying that while they respect everyone's right to peacefully protest, 'hospital operations and public safety cannot be disrupted in any way.'
"Officers will be present and monitoring and charges will be laid where warranted," they said.
For weeks now groups opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and related masking and lockdown rules have staged protests in front of hospitals across the country. Toronto’s Hospital Row is a planned gathering point for another rally Monday.
“To see this protest happening just outside of our workplaces and patients being intimidated, health care workers being intimated as well, it’s very disturbing,” Birgit Umaigba, critical care nurse and Centennial College instructor told CTV Toronto.
Umaigba knows of several nurses who plan not to attend work Monday for fear of encountering protests at hospital doors.
“They are not the place to be yelling and screaming and intimidating,” warned Michael Garron Hospital critical care director Dr. Michael Warner. “Especially when so many people on the other side of the doors of those hospitals are suffering from the disease that certain people refuse to get vaccinated for.”
“It’s demoralizing, it’s disheartening,” downtown ICU nurse Vikky Leung told CTV Toronto Sunday.
Leung started a change.org petition supporting legislated safe zones around hospitals to prevent bullying, writing that “it is not okay for anyone to be concerned for their safety, or worried about obstructions, when accessing healthcare or going to work to provide care for others.”
Her patients, said Leung, are especially vulnerable.
“They have to walk through these protests, and it’s scary, when you’re immunocompromised, you don’t know if these people are vaccinated. Likely they’re not— that’s why they’re protesting,” she said.
Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath is urging Ontario Premier Doug Ford to pass a bill that would create "public health safety zones" in an effort to reduce harassment.
"My Safety Zone bill would make this targeted intimidation a provincial offence. Instead of hiding out, Ford can come back to work and pass my bill to stop the harassment right now," she tweeted Sunday.
The legislature has been proprogued until after the federal election.
Meanwhile, the premier took to social media to call the protests "selfish, cowardly and reckless.”
“Our health care workers have sacrificed so much to keep us all safe during this pandemic. They don’t deserve this kind of treatment — not now, not ever. Leave our health care workers alone," Ford tweeted Sunday.
Tory said that he had been promised by Toronto Police Chief James Ramer that should any protest happen at a hospital, officers would ensure that health-care workers would be protected and patients and ambulance would not be blocked from accessing the building.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
2 charged after police find 'concerning and diverse' explosives at Manitoba home
Winnipeg police say they have arrested two people in their 20s after a large amount of explosives were found in a home outside of Winnipeg, Man.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Spain abolishes national bullfighting award in cultural shift
Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.