Discredited protest group invites anti-vax mayhem outside Canada’s hospitals

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A discredited fringe nursing group will kick off the week with organized “medical freedom” protests outside Canadian hospitals.

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Billed as “peaceful protests” in honor of someone affected by the COVID measures, the anti-vaccine mandate meetings are convened Monday in hospitals and government buildings in all 10 provinces.

The list includes five health centers in Ontario, including Toronto General Hospital.

Previous demonstrations outside Canadian hospitals ignited a storm of shock and outrage from leading medical organizations, civic leaders and ordinary citizens.

People have demanded action from the police and provincial and city leaders to disperse the crowds that prevent patients and caregivers from accessing hospitals.

As doctors and nurses worked to save COVID patients inside hospitals that are part of the University Health Network in Toronto, protesters outside blocked entrances and disrupted the entry and exit of both staff and patients.

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Ten days ago, a joint statement from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) condemned this additional burden on healthcare workers, saying: “Healthcare workers who have worked tirelessly for months are being intimidated and harassed for doing their jobs. This is wrong and unacceptable, period. We are in a health crisis of unprecedented proportions ”.

After Prime Minister Doug Ford’s announcement of vaccine passports for Ontario in early September, anti-vaccine protesters stepped up their efforts and gathered outside hospitals and government buildings.

There have also been protests against the mask and the lockdown since COVID started.

The nursing group that is the face of these protests appears to have been influenced by US groups that adhere to various conspiracy theories, beginning with the notion of “COVID is a hoax.”

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How 660,000 COVID deaths in the US could be a hoax remains a mystery.

Three days ago, Dr. Doris Grinspun, RNAO Director, called Mayor Tory,Premier Ford, OPP and Health Minister Christine Elliott, among others, institute safe zones around hospitals to maintain the safety of healthcare workers and patients in this province.

In an interview Sunday, Grinspun called the protests a demoralizing situation.

“If the protests took place in Queen’s Park or in the legislature, that’s fine, we all believe in democracy and the right to express our feelings,” he said. “But this is happening on the front lines of medical care, disrupting patients and their families. Some of these patients are there for chemotherapy.

“When nurses have to fight to get into work and are called terrible names, it is not about democracy.”

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Grinspun is not afraid to address a growing public concern about what these protests really represent.

Among the many with COVID-related concerns who want to express their frustration is a small Percentage, Grinspun said, who are the agitators and who organize these events behind a facade of concerned nurses.

“The agitators find any means to organize themselves. If they weren’t closures or shots, it would be the choice. If not the elections, they would find something else, ”he said.

It’s not news that anti-vaxx rallies are notorious for involving far-right political groups, 5G checkers (and other fringe groups), and white supremacist organizations.

“These groups are all over the United States and Europe,” Grinspun said. “The few use the rest. That is why we demand safe zones around hospitals and other health facilities and schools.

“I have said publicly, and to the Prime Minister: I am very concerned that the protests are not solely related to COVID policies. A small contingency of organizers is using these protests as a means to organize more radical white supremacist agendas. “