Image Credit: Take Action Kamloops / Facebook

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Protest, sure, but anti-vaxxers need to let others shop in peace

Jan 12, 2022 | 4:23 AM

THE ANTI-VAXXERS were at it again this week, descending on the Real Canadian Superstore for what they call a relaxed, maskless shopping experience. RCMP showed up, ticketed 43 of them and arrested five.

So-called Mask Free Mondays have been promoted by a group calling itself Take Action Kamloops.

According to police, their presence in the store hasn’t necessarily been relaxed, as reports had been received of staff and other shoppers being intimidated.

The Monday incident came on the heels of a phone call I received a few days ago from a local business person who said anti-maskers had been showing up at his store, confronting staff and customers, and threatening to run the store out of business.

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Their strategy appeared to be to refuse to don masks, demand that others in the store remove theirs, and refuse to leave until police arrived. I tried to contact Take Action Kamloops for comment on such tactics and ask if they were involved but haven’t heard back.

One TAK Facebook post contended Mask Free Monday could become a “hospital-sized protest every single week,” but characterized the Super Store gatherings as “very peaceful” and “having a good time.”

Media coverage of the Monday encounter with RCMP was reposted on the group’s page along with the comment “great promotion” and denials that anyone was arrested, only “illegally detained.”

This same group staged a peaceful rally at City Hall in September so we know these folks are capable of respectful protest. On the other hand, the group likes to promote the legal-sounding “Notice of Liability,” which supposedly puts recipients on notice that they’ll be held responsible for any adverse effects from anti-COVID measures.

Anti-vaxxers should accept a small win in the COVID wars — people generally recognize their right to disagree with government policy and to protest, and to look silly doing it. What they don’t have a right to do is disrupt businesses and the lives of customers.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.