By Cecilia Nasmith
The truckers who have brought life in downtown Ottawa to a halt in a bid to make the Federal government backtrack on vaccination requirements for cross-border commerce do not represent the majority of Canadians, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking said at this week's media scrum.
“I think it is fair to be frustrated. I think the pandemic overall has caused lots of frustration with many individuals and impacted people in lots of different ways, and many people's livelihoods have been impacted in ways that are taking a long time to overcome,” Dr. Bocking said.
“I respect the right of people to protest and share their opinions. I don't believe some of the really disappointing signs of behaviour that have been reported from protesters in Ottawa reflect all the protesters.
“But it is really concerning to see some of the rhetoric, and some of the slogans protesters are sharing are completely misrepresenting and harmful.
“It is never okay to compare a vaccine mandate to genocide,” she stated.
“I think some of those messages are problematic.”
Another problem Dr. Bocking spotlighted is the impact of the disruption to the lives of people who happen to live in residential neighbourhoods close to Parliament Hill.
“I think we have learned with previous vaccine-preventable diseases there will always be individuals who don't support the science or have an alternative understanding. I think we can expect there to always be people that oppose any sort of restrictions in the name of public health.
“The COVID pandemic has stretched all of us. But without public-health restrictions, without vaccines, I cannot imagine what the impact would have been on communities.
“I really want to thank all these people and emphasize, really, all this work that has happened, and all the community members that have supported restrictions and support vaccines – because, by far, that is the majority of our communities.”
