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Ontario anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers are suing feds, province and City of Toronto for $11 million

TORONTO, ON., Sept. 3, 2020 — Vaccine Choice Canada and seven other plaintiffs are suing the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, and various public health officials over the country’s pandemic response measures.

The Ontario-based organization which supports voluntary and informed choice in vaccination argues that COVID-19 mitigation measures are arbitrary and overreaching and have involved “egregious and persistent violations of Canadians’ Constitutional rights by Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments.”

The legal action is a challenge under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and covers the closure of businesses, the enforcement of physical distancing, and mask mandates. The suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on July 6th states that the closure of businesses to prevent the spread of the virus was “extreme, unwarranted and unjustified,” that self-isolation measures imposed on individuals were “not scientific, nor medically-based nor proven”, and that the mandatory wearing of face coverings in some public spaces imposes “physical and psychological harm.”

The lawsuit by the anti-vaccination organization has seven co-plaintiffs including a 23-year-old man with autism who has the emotional capacity of a four-year-old. His guardian claims in the suit that the man doesn’t have the capacity to understand pandemic health measures, which have “totally mentally devastated” him by depriving him of his routines and his social and emotional network. Another account is of a Mississauga woman who says she can’t wear a mask because it triggers a traumatic memory of having a mask forcibly held over her face during a sexual assault.

Constitutional lawyer Rocco Galati who is representing the group of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers in the Ontario Court challenge says that mandatory masks are a precursor to mandatory vaccination.

Vaccine Choice Canada recently stated, “It’s possible these (Charter) violations will become even more egregious as Prime Minister Trudeau and others have repeatedly declared that “life will not return to normal until a vaccine is found.” Implied in this message is that, should a vaccine for SARS-2 be developed that is deemed “safe and effective,” the vaccine would become mandatory for all citizens, regardless of the risks and violations of rights.” At a time when the Government of Canada has signed an agreement in principle for 76 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax, a biotech company in the USA, Galati’s tweet puts it another way: “With the survival rate of COVID-19 being near 100%, exactly what will a vaccine accomplish?”

The lawsuit is coming at a time when opposition to mandatory masks is gathering steam. The Toronto-based organization Hugs Over Masks started the ball rolling when the City of Toronto announced that transit riders would have to wear a mask on public transit, barring a medical exemption. In early July, a small group of determined individuals demonstrated in the streets and subway near Yonge and Bloor, and Yonge – Dundas, asserting their right to board public transit without covering their faces. While mask mandates were initially brought in under the auspices of public transit, the mandates were soon extended to all indoor public spaces in Toronto, as well as many cities in Ontario.

Despite growing opposition to TO’s mask bylaw and, in spite of Mayor John Tory’s acknowledgment that masks are uncomfortable and look a little “weird”, Toronto upped the ante, stipulating that wearing a mask would be required in the common areas of private apartment buildings, and condos.

Torontonian Vladislav Sobolev is the co-founder of Hugs Over Masks, a group that believes face masks and coverings are not helping to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Sobolev sells “health and wellness” branded products for a living — that’s when he’s not protesting mask mandates and educating people about how to exercise their right to a medical exemption. He says it is important to always ask questions i.e. “Why” and “How” – Why do I have to wear a mask… How does it affect my body…?” His timing in posing these questions is serendipitous. Ontario now reports an uptick in cases of COVID-19, as well as hospitalizations, fanning fears of a “second wave.”

Ditto, for Quebec and many other jurisdictions since mask mandates came into effect which suggests that masks may not be the panacea public health authorities thought they would be.

However, the Government of Ontario is sticking to its guns, doubling down on mask messaging, in spite of setbacks in stemming the spread of coronavirus. At a recent press conference in Whitby, Premier Doug Ford said, “Public health measures like mask requirements and enhanced cleaning measures on transit will help stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure people can safely go back to work, put food on the table, and get our economy going again.”

Over the course of the summer, tens of thousands of Canadians opposed to masking mandates have held rallies across the country to let politicians know that they won’t be muzzled. A huge “Freedom Rally” opposing compulsory face coverings took place on Parliament Hill on Aug. 29th bringing together anti-maskers of all ages from all walks of life. On Aug. 8th CBC News reported that thousands of demonstrators marched through downtown Montreal to protest against the Quebec government’s mandatory mask regulations: “The protesters … carried signs and wore T-shirts with slogans announcing a variety of motivations and ideologies in opposition to face coverings.”

While detractors like to portray mask opponents as fringe, they have reputable support. On June 26th, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association issued a statement on mandatory masks, cautioning public authorities from going “overboard” on mask regulation.

“At this point, the CCLA does not support generalized mandatory mask policies that require the wearing of non-medical masks in all indoor public settings.” The CCLA says that governments have to justify restrictions on liberty, such as forcing people to wear masks, as being both reasonable and, based on evidence. “The scientific evidence on the effectiveness of non-medical masks is mixed. This is nothing like mandating seat belts in the 1970s. A legal requirement that masks be worn in all indoor public spaces is an attempt at massive, and perhaps permanent, behavior modification for the entire population. A legal change of this magnitude must be based on stronger evidence than we currently have,” the statement reads.