The legal matter, brought on by four petitioners, is on behalf of over 500 other public servants who are hoping to seek a temporary stay of terminations.

March 29, 2022

Authored by Drea Humphrey via Rebel News (emphasis ours),

This past Friday, four British Columbia public servants who filed a petition for an interlocutory injunction to stop the termination of staff found not to be in compliance with their employers COVID-19 vaccine mandate had their matter heard in B.C.’s Supreme Court.

The legal matter, brought on by four petitioners, is on behalf of over 500 other public servants who are hoping to seek a temporary stay of terminations until an upcoming judicial review of the province’s Public Service COVID-19 Vaccination Regulation order and human resources policy 25 is heard in a two-day trial set for this May. 

“At it’s core this case is about the government creating a regulation that says this part of the Charter applies, and this part of the Charter doesn’t apply” said Umar Sheikh, the lead counsel for the petitioners.

Sheikh, who was the lead negotiator in the B.C. nurses union winning a battle to not be forced to wear a mask if they did not receive the flu vaccine, is no stranger to challenges involving public health and Charter rights of employees.

Justice Carol J. Ross heard the arguments from Sheikh and Bruce Hallsor, the managing partner of Crease Harman LLP, before deferring her decision until Friday, April 1.

Watch my sit down interview with Sheikh and Phillip Davidson, a B.C. public servant for 14 years in various ministries and policy rolls, and who is the lead petitioner on the case, about what took place in court and what comes next for B.C. public servants fight for medical freedoms.

A website has been put together here to inform the public about the group behind the petition and how they have been affected by the mandates.

To join Rebel News and The Democracy Fund, a registered Canadian charity, in fighting against vaccine passports and ‘no jab, no pay’ policies in Canada, please make a charitable donation to help cover the legal fees for over 20 cases doing just that at FightVaccinePassports.com.

The post Rebel News: Judge hears B.C. public servants fighting vaccine mandates in court appeared first on BCPS Employees for Freedom Society.

March 25, 2022

Judge Defers Decision on Injunction to Pause Firings of B.C. Public Servants Over Vaccine Mandate

VICTORIA – A B.C. Supreme Court justice deferred a decision today on whether to grant an injunction to pause terminations of B.C. public servants for not complying with their employer’s proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

WATCH *NEW Testimonials* – BC Public Service Employees Speak Out:

• Philip – Advanced Education and Skills Training

• Guy – Citizens’ Services

• Christopher – Liquor Distribution Branch

Four B.C. public servants, including Philip Davidson, Zoran Boskovic, and Clinton Chevrier, filed the petition for injunction on behalf of a group of more than 500 union and non-unionized employees. The petition seeks a temporary stay of terminations pending a 2-day hearing set in May for judicial review of the B.C. government’s Order 627 and HR Policy 25. The order and policy make proof of COVID-19 vaccination a new term and condition of employment for public servants. Under the mandate employees can be terminated with cause for not complying and denied severance and Employment Insurance benefits.

Justice Carol J. Ross heard oral arguments from Bruce Hallsor, Q.C. and Umar Sheikh, representing the petitioners. Upon conclusion of arguments, Justice Ross announced she would reserve her decision until Friday, April 1.

“We put forward a thorough argument until our constitutional concerns can be heard in May.  It is our sincere hope that no one is fired before the merits of this case are heard and determined. We are dealing with fundamental constitutional rights,” said Sheikh.

BCPS Employees for Freedom (BCPSEF), a group formed in response to the  mandate and now a registered not-for-profit society, supports the court action taken by the petitioners. Davidson, a member of the society, says he is grateful to remain a B.C. public servant for the time being and looks forward to the outcome of the constitutional case in May. He has been eligible for termination from his position with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training since February 24.

“Every day I’m still a B.C. public servant is a good day, even though I’m on leave without pay and haven’t had any income for four months. I’m proud of my 14 years of service with the BC Public Service, and I hope to serve the public for many more. Sadly, some of my colleagues have already been terminated because of the mandate, but I hope we will all able to see this through and go back to work.”

In its submission to the court, the provincial government disclosed that as of March 7, 2022, fifteen BC Public Service employees have been terminated for not providing proof of COVID-19 vaccination, while 389 have requested medical, political or religious exemptions. 47 employees have had exemption requests denied, 16 have been approved, and 212 are still waiting for final decision.

With public servant vaccine mandates having been withdrawn by almost every other province and territory in Canada, B.C. now stands virtually alone in its determination to dismiss and deny severance and EI to public servants for not proving they have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in response to a pandemic that has largely subsided and a virus that has become endemic.

On March 10, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that B.C. would be dropping the requirement to show a BC Vaccine Card to enter certain public spaces, including restaurants, by April 8. However, the digital ID Vaccine Card continues to be a requirement for B.C. public servants to remain employed.

“We hope the government will change their minds about firing us, but we are prepared to go the distance if they don’t. Likewise, our unionized colleagues are very dissatisfied with the lack of representation from the BCGEU [B.C. General Employees’ Union] on the proof of vaccination mandate. Ultimately there has been an injustice done to tens of thousands of B.C. public servants that needs to be corrected, and BCPS Employees for Freedom Society has been created to do just that.”

On March 20, BCPSEF opened registration for its legal challenge against the BCGEU. B.C. public servants who are BCGEU members and employees of a provincial government ministry, central agency, crown corporation, board, commission, tribunal, office or organization affected by Order 627 and HR Policy 25 are eligible to register with a donation to cover legal costs of the action. Since registration opened, 120 BCGEU members have signed on and donated.

BC Public Service Employee Personal Stories

B.C. public servants from a wide range of professional backgrounds, government ministries and organizations have agreed to speak with BCPS Employees for Freedom Media on camera or have their audio testimony recorded. Their stories have been made into video clips for the public. Only employees’ first names or initials are used, and all testimonies have been prepared in accordance with the BC Public Service Oath of Employment and Standards of Conduct.

Philip – Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training

Philip has been with the BC Public Service for 14 years and has worked for several  ministries in various policy roles. Most recently he has served as Director, Policy and Stakeholder Relations, with StudentAid BC in the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training. Philip helps government develop policy and implement it. Currently his work focuses on student financial assistance policy and helping British Columbians access, afford and complete post-secondary education and training. When the mandate was brought in, Philip didn’t feel comfortable being required to disclose his personal medical information in order to keep working. He had worked primarily from home since the pandemic began. Philip is concerned about the fear, division and worry that has come with the pandemic and the mandate. “I just hope for more love, empathy and courage because we’re going to need that to heal from this as a society.” Philip has been on leave without pay for four months and expects to be terminated at any moment.

Guy – Ministry of Citizens’ Services

Guy has been with the BC Public Service for four and a half years. As a Data Network Analyst with the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, he works with clients from across government to resolve Tier 2 core network communication issues. He is able to do 100 percent of his work from home, but enjoys the face-to-face communication and camaraderie of working in the office. When the mandate came out, Guy studied the information made available about the required new medication but felt it wasn’t sufficient for him to make an informed decision. “The science, as it’s coming out now, is way different than what we expected even a year ago.” Guy has a lot of questions and just wants clear answers. “Mandates don’t unify anything – they divide.” Guy is on leave without pay and expects to be terminated at any moment.

Christopher – Liquor Distribution Branch

Christopher joined the BC Public Service in 2019 to work with the Liquor Distribution Branch in a BC Cannabis Store, initially in Parksville and more recently in Nanaimo. In his role as a cannabis consultant, Christopher offers customer support and helps inform clients about the use of certain products for different needs. Getting this job made him feel like he was finally on the path to achieving his life goals. When the mandate came into effect, Christopher went through a lot of stress and symptoms he had experienced after a serious motor vehicle accident returned, including appetite loss, nausea and depression. “Everything in life just kind of got put on hold. I just felt like I needed to step up and hold true to my values”. Christopher would like everybody to understand the division that has been put in place and hopes we can find a peaceful loving way to come together. Christopher has been put on unpaid leave for three months and expects to be terminated at any moment.

Learn More:

BCPS Employees for Freedom is a non-partisan public service employee group and registered not-for-profit society seeking an amicable solution on behalf of its members with their employer. The group is a growing association of more than 500 B.C. public servants from a wide range of professional backgrounds and disciplines, and includes both management and regular employees. Collectively, we have thousands of years of faithful public service behind us, and we look forward to performing many more. We are trying to resolve our current employment situation by writing and communicating with our employer, public officials and the public, and undertaking legal action only as a last resort.

BCPS Employees for Freedom Media

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March 9, 2022

More B.C. Public Servants Speak Out Ahead of Injunction Hearing

VICTORIA – More B.C. public servants facing termination due to the province’s proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate are sharing their stories ahead of a court hearing to stop the firings.

WATCH *NEW Testimonials* – BC Public Service Employees Speak Out:

• Florence – Public Safety and Solicitor General

• D. (name withheld) – Social Development and Poverty Reduction

• Louisa – Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

The petition for court injunction and judicial review, the first part of which is scheduled to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court on March 21, argues that the government order authorizing the proof of vaccination mandate is unconstitutional and should be quashed. Nine non-union B.C. public servants have joined the petition to date, with more expected to join in the coming days from a larger group of over 500 union and non-union BC Public Service employees. Arguments for the constitutional case are expected to be heard at a 2-day hearing in May.

BCPS Employees for Freedom, a group formed in October last year in response to the mandate, supports the court action and in recent weeks has released video testimonials of employees affected by the mandate. The latest round features:

• Florence, a mother and B.C. Corrections Officer from the Lower Mainland who has had her mental health, family and career prospects negatively impacted by the mandate and is on leave without pay;
• D. (name withheld), an Employment & Assistance Worker from Central B.C., who opposes the mandate but is still working and got vaccinated unwillingly to keep her home and support her family; and
• Louisa, a 24-year BC Public Service employee, wife, mother and aortic dissection survivor from Oliver who is remaining strong in spite of facing imminent termination as her family’s sole income earner.

“These stories provide a window into the lives of tens of thousands of public sector workers across the province who have been impacted by this mandate,” said the group’s spokesperson. “B.C. now appears to be the only province in Canada intent on terminating public servants for not proving their COVID-19 vaccination status. It’s time to end the mandate and allow dedicated B.C. public servants to go back to work.”

BCPS Employees for Freedom says the union representing most B.C. public servants, the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), has failed to stand up for workers, but hopes they will soon change their position.

“The BCGEU so far has not represented workers facing termination because of this mandate, but with attitudes toward COVID policy shifting across the country, most jurisdictions abandoning mandates and restrictions, and even health officials in this province advocating for the end of harmful policies, like what Vancouver Coastal Health wrote to UBC a few weeks ago, we hope the union leadership will have a change of heart and decide to fight for their members.”

On February 16, 2022, the Chief Medical Health Officer and Vice-President of Public Health for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Dr. Patricia Daly, wrote to Dr. Santa Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia, to recommend that the university abandon its plan to de-register students for not proving their COVID-19 vaccination status. Daly noted that such a measure, if pursued, “may result in profound negative harms on [students’] future health and wellbeing, by impacting future educational and career opportunities, and their mental health.”

On February 28, 2022, the UBC Board of Governors announced it would no longer require rapid testing or vaccine declarations, except as required by Public Health.

BC Public Service Employee Personal Stories

B.C. public servants from a wide range of professional backgrounds and government ministries have agreed to speak with BCPS Employees for Freedom Media on camera or have their audio testimony recorded. Their stories have been made into video clips for the public. Only employees’ first names or initials are used, and all testimonies have been prepared in accordance with the BC Public Service Oath of Employment and Standards of Conduct.

Florence – Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General

Florence has been a B.C. public servant for 4 years, working as a correctional officer for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in the Lower Mainland. During her time with the BC Public Service and the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), Florence feels she has made a difference in the lives of the people she works with. She also got along well with her co-workers and felt respected by management. However, since the mandate was introduced, her experience has changed. “I feel like I’m being treated like a second-class citizen.” Her mental health has been negatively impacted and she has felt forced to consider an unexpected career shift. “I would like everybody to know I am healthy, I am eager to work, ready to work.” Florence, a mother of young children, has been put on unpaid leave for three months and expects to be terminated at any moment.

D. – Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction

D. (name withheld) has been with BC Public Service for 7 years and lives in Central B.C. In her role with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, she helps B.C.’s most vulnerable citizens access income assistance. When the mandate came in, she experienced confusion and anxiety. “I just knew in my heart this wasn’t right for me”. It wasn’t easy for D. to make the decision she felt forced to make. “I went and got my vaccines for one reason and one reason only and that was to keep my job, to keep my family in our home”. She continues working in her role today.

Louisa – Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

Louisa lives in Oliver, B.C., and has been with the BC Public Service for 24 years, working for the last 11 with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. When the pandemic first hit, Louisa was asked by her management to find a way to keep their largely paper-based office functioning while her colleagues worked from home. She continued to work in the office throughout the pandemic. When the mandate came, Louisa, an aortic dissection survivor, knew a treatment that could possibly affect her heart would be a problem. “I don’t sleep very well. I get panic attacks where I can’t breathe.” Despite this difficult time in her life, Louisa has to be strong for her family. A devoted mother and wife, Louisa is on unpaid leave and expects termination at any moment.

Learn More:

BCPS Employees for Freedom is a non-partisan public service employee group seeking an amicable solution on behalf of its members with their employer. The group is a growing association of more than 500 B.C. public servants from a wide range of professional backgrounds and disciplines, and includes both management and regular employees. Collectively, we have many hundreds, if not thousands, of years of faithful public service behind us, and we look forward to performing many more. We are trying to follow the right process to resolve our current employment situation by writing and communicating with our employer, public officials and the public, and undertaking legal action only as a last resort.

BCPS Employees for Freedom Media

Website: bcpsforfreedom.com

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Contact:

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March 1, 2022

Update on Court Petition to Stop Vaccine Mandate Terminations and New Employee Testimonials

VICTORIA – More B.C. public servants are joining a court petition filed last week to stop their employer from terminating them over its proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Five more non-union BC Public Service employees have joined the original four petitioners seeking an injunction from B.C. Supreme court to stop the firings. The filing last week resulted in a two-week pause to terminations for a number of employees who were expecting dismissal starting February 22.

BC Public Service Employees for Freedom, a group formed late last year in response to the Public Service vaccine mandate policy, welcomed the employees’ move to join the court petition.

“More of our colleagues are recognizing the need to stand behind this petition and our efforts to end the unnecessary, unjust and unethical vaccine mandate and terminations,” said the group’s spokesperson.

“Most of the general public doesn’t know that the BC Public Service is trying terminate us with cause and deny us severance pay and Employment Insurance. We are being punished for not revealing our personal, private medical information or not submitting to pressure to take vaccines that don’t stop viral transmission or infection. We have members who have more than 25 years of service and are experts in their fields. This kind of treatment is beneath the dignity of the professional public service.”

On November 19, 2021, the B.C.’s Lieutenant Governor, Janet Austen, signed into law Order in Council 627/2021 amending the Public Service Act to make the new proof of COVID-19 vaccination policy a term and condition of employment. Any employee terminated under the policy is “deemed to have been dismissed for just cause.” The order was passed without parliamentary hearing or debate in the B.C. legislature and one business day before employees who had not proven their vaccination status were to be placed on unpaid leave.

Most other Canadian provinces are moving on from their proof of vaccination mandates for the general public and government workers. Starting today in Ontario, vaccine certificates will no longer be mandatory in indoor public settings.

No Response from the Employer or Support from the Union

BCPS Employees for Freedom, which has grown to nearly 500 registered members in recent weeks and includes both union and non-union staff, as well as management employees, has received no response to letters sent to the Head of the BC Public Service, Lori Wanamaker, who announced the proof of vaccination mandate in October. Members of the group represented by the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) have faced a similar lack of response to their appeals for help.

“The BCGEU has completely abandoned us,” said one union member of the group, a BC Corrections Officer based in the south-central interior. “They’ve sided with the NDP government on this vaccine mandate and think it’s OK to fire us with cause and deny us severance. If the union isn’t fighting for us, what’s the point of having a union? We’re hoping this process with the court petition helps where our union has failed us.”

*NEW Testimonials* – More B.C. Public Servants Speak Out

BC Public Service Employees for Freedom has released three new videos of B.C. public servants speaking out about the vaccine mandate and their looming terminations.

“We have many colleagues coming forward now to share their personal stories of public service. We believe the B.C. public deserves to know how the indiscriminate and arbitrary firing of professional public servants is affecting our province. We are your colleagues, neighbours, friends and family.”

Kasey – Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General

Kasey has worked for the BC Public Service for a year and a half. In her role as a Probation Officer with the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Kasey has helped clients while on bail, making sure they were meeting their conditions and receiving support in the community. She is passionate about her job. “It made me feel like I had a purpose and a reason, and I was helping people”. After having worked through the pandemic, she feels it’s a shame to let employees go because of their personal choice to not share their private medical information. “I think it’s a step backwards for inclusivity”. Kasey has been on leave without pay for three months and is expecting termination.

Cheryl – Ministry of Citizens’ Services

Cheryl has worked with the Ministry of Citizen’s Services for 8 years. As the only person performing her role in her office, she knows being placed on unpaid leave has had a big impact. “I’ve always been health-minded and always looked at alternative things and never would… had I ever thought that this would be a requirement”. Her husband, also a public servant, felt forced to follow the mandate so they could survive. Cheryl has been on unpaid leave for three months and expects to be terminated at any moment.

Diana – BC Wildfire Service

Diana has been with BC Public Service for over 27 years, and for the last 18 has worked for the BC Wildfire Service in Penticton. In her role as Operations Assistant, Diana prepares the zone for the upcoming fire season, including hiring heavy equipment and making sure the necessary fire crews are in place and ready. She plays an integral role working side-by-side with the Zone Wildfire Coordination Officer during intense wildfire fighting operations. She thinks the mandate will have a significant impact on B.C.’s ability to fight wildfires because of the number of contractors who choose to be vaccine-free. “What BC Wildfire Service employees do for the public is above and beyond. I can’t even describe everything that they do.” Diana has been put on unpaid leave for three months, coinciding with the beginning of fire season, and has been told she will be terminated without severance after her leave ends.

Learn More:

BCPS Employees for Freedom is a non-partisan public service employee group seeking an amicable solution on behalf of its members with their employer. The group is a growing association of nearly 500 B.C. public servants from a wide range of professional backgrounds and disciplines, and includes both management and regular employees. Collectively, we have many hundreds, if not thousands, of years of faithful public service behind us, and we look forward to performing many more. We are trying to follow the right process to resolve our current employment situation by writing and communicating with our employer, public officials and the public, and undertaking legal action only as a last resort.

For Comment on the Court Petition, contact:

Umar Sheikh and Bruce Hallsor, Q.C.

Crease Harman LLP

Barristers & Solicitors

usheikh@crease.com

hallsor@crease.com

BCPS Employees for Freedom Media

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I work with children and families. I work in mental health, day after day I fight to keep youth from taking their own lives. I go out of my way to help parents learn to connect with their child, teach them ways to help pull their child out of depression, begin eating again fighting their eating disorder, reintegrate into society when their anxiety is so crippling they cant attend school. Sometimes I wake up at night worrying about a child or family, sometimes I work outside what is expected of me if it will mean the difference in helping children over come their mental health challenges. There are times when I don’t understand where a client is coming from and I have to dig deep to show them genuine compassion because that is what they need. My job requires A LOT of mental and emotional strength and energy. I love my job, I love empowering children, youth, and families to take control of their mental health for a brighter future.

When the vaccine mandate was released, I felt like I was hit by a bus! How can my employer completely and utterly send me the indirect message that I am disposable, worthless, and not a valuable asset to the people I serve as a public servant. How can the government tell me I am an essential service throughout the whole pandemic, deeming me too important to not work and provide mental health support to families. This same government who has recently been advertising the rise in mental health challenges among youth directly due to the pandemic, is now telling me that if I don’t inject my body with a so-called vaccine, that I will lose my job! How can my employer demand that I continue to give to the public my everything when my cup, which is feeling drained at this point (due to supporting mental health through 2 years of crisis) has now had a hole punched right through it? How do I continue to give and give when I am treated like a disposable, worthless piece of trash? This vaccine mandate has impacted my trust in my employer; in their actual ability to serve the public fairly (which they claim is non-discriminatory). I have sleepless nights, fears of financial ruin, and I am deathly afraid of vaccine injury or death. I also have an anger I’ve never had about the coercion and illegal policies and violations of my human rights.

– Public Servant feeling like Public Trash

I have been a loyal and hard-working BC Public Service employee, and have built up my career with the BCPS for over 15 years. In my current position, I work 110% every day to ensure my clients are supported with the work I do.  Even though my job is stressful with a high level of workload, I enjoy what I do and the clients I support. I have consistently performed the duties of my job (and then some…) to the best of my ability, honestly, loyally and with integrity; as well as supporting my fellow co-workers when they needed support.

I have had excellent job performance evaluations throughout my career in the BCPS, and very happy clients who receive my support, yet this doesn’t seem to matter to my employer. Regardless of how hard I work, how honest I am, how loyal I have been, and how much integrity I have, my employer feels that they have the right to take my job away, for nothing I have done wrong. They feel they have the right to take away the ability to feed and shelter myself and my rescue animals – all in the name of supposed “safety” – which has not been proven to be true…

I have been working full-time since I was 15 years old and am not afraid of hard work to support myself; I have always done so – sometimes working two jobs – to ensure I could support myself, and I’m now facing discrimination and outright disrespect by way of employer coercion to try to force me to take a drug that has been proven to have serious adverse health affects, including death, just to keep my job.

I have lost friendships due to the choice to keep my personal medical information private; and have been disrespected, yelled at, sworn at, and other outright mean behaviour from the people who live in the same building as I do, because I refuse to wear a mask (which is proven to be not effective). The stress of having to deal with the unkind behaviour and disrespectful people at home and from my employer has taken its toll on my physical and mental health. Once again, I have done nothing wrong…

Regardless of how badly I’ve been treated, personally and professionally, I WILL stay strong in my beliefs and fighting for what is right, as I know there are other like-minded people who I can align with, who are brave, positive, and have the most integrity I’ve ever seen. I would like other people who judge those of us fighting for rights, to think about how unethical, unlawful, and dishonest the BCPS (and other forms of government) have been toward all of us. Do I deserve to lose the job I have worked so hard for, and have my rights to EI taken away – because I want informed consent and medical privacy rights? Is this the type of behaviour you want to support??

– Anonymous Ministry of Environment and Climate Change employee

I have been a hardworking employee with my ministry for 15 years. I have only taken time off when ‘I really needed it’. I have always been overworked and under resourced in my sector. I have been harassed and bullied many times when asking for basic necessities to be able to do my job efficiently. I have poured my heart and soul into building healthy relationships and supporting the families I work for. 

The families I work with will be the ones most impacted as I know it will be another 6 months for my replacement, if they are lucky. I have witnessed many losses of resources in my sector every year. Yet, the job demands and the job load has only become heavier and complex. We barely have the tools and $$ required and when we ask we are told things like “maybe this isn’t the right job for you”. 

My caseload has always been unmanageable and high, so I usually put in more hours then I should. I try not to, but it’s hard when you know if you don’t, someone else will be at a loss. I have stayed so long because of the relationships I have made with the families and the community. I see fear and helplessness in my coworkers eyes because I know they want to step out of line, but they are afraid, so they won’t. 

These policies and our union not standing up for our basic rights as good standing employees is wrong on so many levels. It’s unjustified and it’s criminal. What they are attempting to do to us has been traumatizing, at least it has been for me. I hope we can stand strong together, whatever our differences are and however this looks for each of us individually. Many of us know something is wrong with this ‘whole’ picture and the sooner we can put our differences aside and start working together the better. 

– Anonymous Ministry of Children and Family Development employee

I have been a public servant for 23 years. I am proud to be a public servant. My friends in private sector would always question why I would work for less money and more grief. I would always tell them that it isn’t about money, it is about making the world a better place. I would ask them if they enjoyed being able to drink the tap water and not worry about poisoning their kids. Or swimming in the lakes without worrying about getting sick. Or breathing the air without the risk of developing cancer. That is why I do it! That is why most of the civil servants do it.

I want to believe that Lori Wannamaker is a decent human being and that she truly believes that she is protecting her employees and the public. I sincerely do not want to believe that she has an agenda or is being paid-off or even blackmailed to push the vaccine. I want to believe the world isn’t that corrupt and evil.

If I take a step back, I understand why Lori imposed the vaccine mandate. Assuming she is a good person, she is just trying to protect her staff. That’s her job as a public servant and as the head of the public service. I also believe know that most of the staff, my colleagues and friends, are onboard and agree with the vaccine mandate. 

Lori, and most of the world, will argue that the mandates are based on science and that science says that i) the vaccine is safe and ii) the vaccine is effective. I am no expert, but I don’t think that any of those claims can be made with any certainty until all the facts are in – that is how science works. It is like we are writing our results and conclusion section of the lab report while we are halfway through the experiment.

Because the science is still not proven, I feel that making people choose between their jobs and rolling the dice with their health is disgusting. No one has the right to do that and the laws actually state this. 

I don’t think that mandating a vaccine or any medical treatment is fair or even humane. There are legitimate reasons why some people can’t get the vaccine, and there are people that do not want the vaccine for religious reasons or just because they don’t believe the vaccine is safe. That is their choice. I know the common sentiment from my colleagues is that those people don’t deserve to have a job. I am devastated at how cold and cruel good people can be.

I feel so heartbroken that the mandate is so ruthless and calculated to force people to get the vaccine or lose their jobs with no room for compassion. This isn’t the public service I grew my career with. 

It is not an easy decision but I am forced to walk away from my career. I have a young child and I can’t risk a vaccine injury.  I have had several friends get very sick and even die from the vaccine and I am never taking that risk. I need to be around to raise my child. I want to be able to look them in the eye and honestly say I am doing it to make the world a better place. I am doing this because the next step will be to force the vaccine into little kids’ arms. I am worried that after that it will be something else and it will never end. It is all well and good with my colleagues, and the vast majority of people, when it is something they agree with but wait until it is forcing something they don’t agree with.   

I am grateful for the experience and friendships that I have gained in the public service along the way. I am proud of my accomplishments as a public servant. I am very sad that I will never have a retirement party and leave my career with dignity. The part that hurts the most is that I was a good employee – a loyal employee. 

There is no doubt that I will have financial hardships and there is a very distinct possibility that I will never work in this field again. I know that being a certain age and very specialized in government work, I am not very employable. I am also concerned that my retirement age will be pushed out to 65 from 60. I will take my health and freedom over financial security.

I hope this letter finds you well. I don’t wish any ill will on anyone. I just want some dignity and my freedom of choice – I want that for everyone so don’t dismiss me as an anti-vaxxer. I am pro freedom and choice and I truly hope you don’t have to face a similar dilemma when a mandate crosses your line in the sand.

– Anonymous, Loyal Employee, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change

The post Employee Impact Statements Nov 29, 2021 appeared first on BCPS Employees for Freedom Society.

BC Public Service Employees for Freedom dawned as a small Telegram group the same week that our employer, the BC Public Service Agency, informed us about its mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy. Within days we grew from 40 to over 800 and now have more than 1500 members. After our website went live and we shared some of our colleague’s impact statements, we received an outpouring of additional BC Public Service employees wanting to share theirs too. Here are just a few:

“I have served for over 6 years as a BC public servant. I come from a country where dissent or questioning government rules was not possible, what is known as tyranny. In my country of origin the lack of opportunities to dissent escalated from political levels, to unions, to anywhere in your own neighbourhood and within family members.

The country I come from also has a card system to control who could survive and how, and who will be condemned to death or isolation just because of a different ideology or because you have had education. Freedom of speech was silenced with no food, no jobs, no protection of your life, just by using a simple ‘harmless’ tool: an identification card based on your beliefs. That system ruined everyone’s life and more than 5 million people have left that country as immigrants, refugees, and another 4 million have left due to suicides, assassinations, or because they were denied basic needs and left to die (no access to human life, no food, no shelter, no medical assistance).

Everything started with stigma and discriminatory speech like the ones I hear these days in Canada. Everything started by ‘political leaders’ and their allies seeding hate among neighbours, colleagues, and families. Then the seed grew and they started to kill each other leading to a civil war backed up with military on their side. While the actual Government could deploy their most corrupt policies and laws to perpetuate their power (which they have done for over 22 years now). By the time people realized what was really going on it was already too late, when people thought ‘this cannot get worse’, it did… my country of origin already has lost its capacity to overcome or fight against inflation, economic and social crisis, and so many people already had left the country or are impassioned that fear and survival modes reigns the streets nowadays.

I came to Canada impressed by its ethics around freedom and human rights; by the kindness and politeness of its people; for its honesty towards environmental issues and their drive to look for sustainable environmental solutions. Nevertheless, nowadays I am surrounded with what seems to be a repeat of history from my home country: the hate speech by leaders, control cards to access basic needs, the abuse of power in the name of what people want to hear, blockages of means to survive or live if you don’t follow or if you question, fear or my life due to the stigma seeded in the people I interact with, unions siding with politicians and being biased, kindness being substituted by fear and rage, coercion using people’s livelihoods….

I hope Canada is able to turn back into the country that one day inspired me to come and settle here. I hope we can find science-based (non-biased, non-censored, with freedom of speech) and a human approach to a common problem nowadays: the Covid-19 virus. The WHO have been clear that we have to learn to live with it, probably as we did with HIV and with so many other social stigmas. We could only be able to do that if we open not only our minds but also our hearts.”:

– Anonymous BC Public Service Employee

“I am an Indigenous woman and second generation survivor of residential schools in Canada. My father always told me to stand up for what I believe in. In order to keep my job, I am being coerced into making a choice that I don’t feel comfortable doing. A choice that has potential consequences that can affect my health and my family. No one is accountable for the outcome other than me.  

The Canadian Government already has a dark past with coercion and discriminatory cards also known as, Indian Status Cards. And now the ‘health passports’ are the same approach for systemic discrimination. Only now, in 2021, 25 years after the last residential school closed, the government is apologizing for its actions and all the lives lost and people still suffering from the brutal and unspeakable actions towards Indigenous people in Canada. The Church and the Government were responsible for the inhumane acts that took place and to this day, no one has been held accountable. How many years will it take for the public to hold the government accountable for the actions they are taking against their people for the Covid-19 pandemic? 

How can BC Public Service preach diversity, inclusive workplace and reconciliation when their means and manners have not changed at all?  Maybe a majority of people are so trusting of the government because the government didn’t commit genocide on their family. Not me! Not my family. I know the history. And Indigenous people are still suffering. I am taking a stand and I am ready to fight for my rights, my children’s rights and their children rights. 

When there is risk, there must always be choice. One question I want you to ask yourself – If we allow the government to coerce us into making a choice when no one is responsible for the outcome but you, what’s next? What else will happen? What other restrictions will be put in place to control you and strip people of their rights?” 

– Anonymous Employment and Assistance Worker from the M. of Social Development and Poverty Reduction

“I am an immigrant who moved to this country 6 years ago hoping to experience the natural beauty of this magical province we inhabit, and taste the freedom from tyranny and oppression. I was so excited when I first landed a job working for the BC Public Service: an institution which, I was led to believe, protected those things mentioned above. Unfortunately, I have found out that the promises of immigrating to a free country have been broken and I find myself in a situation worse than before.

Years ago my partner (now an avid ecologist) suffered escaping communism in Vietnam by crossing the Pacific ocean on an overcrowded, leaky boat. She is now again confronted with tyranny, discrimination and oppression of the same kind: they want to take away her bodily autonomy and right to individual conscience.

Our union, the BCGEU, instead of helping us has publicly called us “white supremacist, neo-Nazis” for unknown and unsupported reasons…

At this point, we are turning and taking a stand….not running. We are ready to fight and die for our rights, should it come to that.”

– Anonymous Ministry of Citizens’ Services employee

“I’ve worked for the BC government for 32 years. I love my job and now I’m losing my career because I believe in freedom of choice. Humans should have a choice. I want my grandchildren to have a choice about what they put into their body. They shouldn’t have to “show papers” to take part in everyday human activities.”

– Anonymous Ministry of Advanced Education employee

“For the past 5 years, I’ve worked within the Ministry of Forests to the best of my ability for the public benefit. I’m willing and able to continue work, but facing job loss due to these vaccine mandates regardless of my work ethic and experience. These mandates are negatively impacting everyone, either directly or indirectly.”

– Anonymous Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development employee

“I have been a public servant for nearly 5 years. Prior to that, I worked in medical environments for about 10 years where patient consent and confidentiality was a crucial and fundamental aspect of my work. In the public service, I have also worked in HR environments, and the same basic human rights principles continued to apply to my work.
I have devoted myself to my employer, my province, to my work, and as a colleague. I am also an individual, just as you are. I’m not just these words on a page. I am surely someone walking a path similar to someone you know and love. 

As a child I did not have bodily autonomy because I was abused for most of my childhood. My body was not mine until I reclaimed it as a young adult after nearly giving up on myself. I have overcome an incredible amount of trauma and have come out of it as an empathetic person who is able to confront situations that are unethical and inhumane. Even when it has become this difficult.

I have been a loving and supportive member of society. Whatever your ailment was while I was at the clinics I served, I respected you, I respected your rights, and I protected your information to the highest degree. I demanded more from management, to ensure your medical information was safe. I was kind to you, even when you were too sick to be kind to me. My dedication and work ethic also did not falter as a public servant. I have served British Columbians with graciousness and with pride. I love my province, my country, and its people, and I have given you my heart.

I will always uphold medical privacy rights and the right to bodily autonomy. I will always fight for you to have those rights, I will also fight for my own, for my family, my friends, and especially for my son.  

This mandate is forcefully demanding that I now go against everything I have been protecting all this time. My current wellbeing and my future becomes hostage and should I not comply and surrender to the demands, I will lose nearly everything and become one of many that will be subject to detrimental outcomes in my life. 

Please don’t ask me to throw away or negotiate the importance of medical privacy. I can’t and I won’t. Don’t expect me to forsake my right to what happens to my body after I only just got it back 20 years ago. I can’t. I won’t. 

Please, stand with me because despite the damage that has already been done to me, and many others through this, despite my mental health breaking down, I still stand with you. I know that we are all trying to navigate this pandemic in our best way, but we will never succeed in this important mission if we have lost our humanity. And I’m not ready to believe we have lost that.”

– Anonymous BC Public Service employee

“I joined the BCPS [BC Public Service] in 2000 and absolutely loved my job. I spent 2 years working full time in a job that I absolutely loved but was only casual on call as there was a hiring freeze in my Ministry. Eventually I realized it could be years before I could pay into a pension or have medical benefits so I left the BCPS to work for the RCMP.

I then spent the next 7 years working for the RCMP in a very toxic environment. I had come from a job with wonderful co-workers and supervisors so I could not understand how I ended up in a Federal Agency where as a women I was discriminated against and sexually harassed. I had no where to report any of the bullying or harassment to, as they did not have a union, no one internally to report to except for immediate supervisors who were aware and part of the problem. Eventually a group of female employees went to a lawyer who also told us that this would be hard to prove and successfully win any wrong doing labour relations-wise. Keep in mind this was the early 2000s and labour laws are not as they are today. I spent many days at my place of employment where I felt complete anxiety and terrorized at work to the point where I was on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication, wore a heart monitor and needed counseling.

Eventually I went on maternity leave which is when I was diagnosed with PTSD due to my experience with my employer. Through a lot of counseling I vowed I would never again be quiet when I saw people being wronged or silenced. I made a promise to myself that I would always stand up for what is right, that I would be clear on my convictions and with that I resigned with honors as a retired member of the RCMP. Years later in 2020 the RCMP was made accountable and due to a settlement had to provide names of all employees whose voices were never heard and anyone who had made a complaint that was never acknowledged and required to compensate all those who gave up their careers due to the unjust treatment they received at the time of employment. 

Meanwhile in 2018 I was thrilled to be back at my home Ministry working with vulnerable populations; somewhere I know I am making a difference in the lives of people who are desperately in need: homeless, those fleeing abuse, and some in the active throws of addiction. I genuinely love my job, I love what I do. Everyday I have felt blessed to work for a Ministry that prides itself on inclusion, diversity, and ethics. I am a voice for those who can’t find theirs.
 
That all changed on October 5, 2021 for me. First of all I will say that I am not against vaccines, I have been vaccinated and so have my children. My dad is a polio survivor before the vaccine was available that saved so many children. I have a child with autism. Some claim autism may be caused by a vaccine injury, do I believe my child may have had one, I can’t say one way or another if that is true or not. I would like to think it is not. I can confirm however that the day after one of my perfectly healthy family members had her second Covid vaccine she was found dead from heart complications in her sleep. I can also confirm that a friend I have known for 20 years had a stroke within an hour of his second vaccine shot and was completely paralyzed on one side and to this day walks with a cane. But this is more than the personal loss I have witnessed. 

The fact my employer now feels entitled to attempt to use coercion using my employment as a bartering tool so that I will inject an experimental drug into my body in order to continue my employment is extortion. I have worked from home for two years, I don’t go to an office and I don’t see clients in person and yet they have made it clear that I am not going to be eligible for an exemption and I am still somehow a safety risk. My employer also feels they are entitled to discriminate against me due to my medical status and that they have the right to my personal medical information.

So here I am again dealing with an employer that I once believed to be ethical, undiscriminatory and fair. They have ordered the medical extortion of their employees or face losing your house and starve. I am a single mother, I live paycheck to paycheck, I have a mortgage, I have a disabled child whose medication alone is close to $300.00 a month. So in December I will not be eligible for E.I. and I will find myself on the other end of the phone, dependent on the Ministry that fired me while I have to apply for welfare because I was more afraid of the complications of an medical procedure that is not finished clinical trials until 2023 that could risk leaving my children without a mother.”

– Anonymous Employment and Assistance Worker from the M. of Social Development and Poverty Reduction

The post Employee Impact Statements Nov 7, 2021 appeared first on BCPS Employees for Freedom Society.

BC Public Service Employees for Freedom dawned as a small Telegram group the same week that our employer, the BC Public Service Agency, informed us about its mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy. Within days we grew from forty members to over eight hundred members. Our colleagues began sharing how this vaccination policy was personally affecting their lives. We realized that each of us may have very different reasons for not wanting or being able to comply with this policy. However, our common goal of wanting to maintain our livelihoods and bodily autonomy remained a constant.

The following impact statements are from BC Public Service employees who consented to the sharing of their story. These are just some of our stories:

I have been a proud member of the BC Public Service for the last 18 years and I work with some amazing people. I am also a survivor of domestic abuse. These don’t completely define me but they have made me into the person I am today. I fought for 7 long years to break the shackles of control and abuse to save my children. Every step of the way I have experienced how broken our systems are – social, criminal, and civil at both the provincial and federal levels. 

Three years ago, when we finally became free, I made a promise to my children that I would never allow anyone to have power, dominance and control over us where they felt they could threaten our very existence.  And on October 5, 2021, I was blindsided with the fact that I was now working for my abuser. My mental health has been on a drastic decline. My PTSD from the years of abuse that I suffered has been triggered which I thought I had finally laid to rest for the last few years. I am unable to concentrate, eat or sleep. I am reliving moments from my past that are now paralleling my present. I have been pushed into a corner and silenced, unable to have a voice over fear of the consequences.

I am once again in a position where losing my home and providing for my children is a reality. And once again it’s because I have been given the “choice” to either fall victim to their demands and continue in a relationship with my abuser or to fight for my freedom to save my mental and physical health and show my children what it means to stand up for what you believe in. I choose to fight.

– Anonymous Scientific Technical Office for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

21 years with MCFD [Ministry of Children and Family Development] all along to have respected people, worked with clients and families of all walks of life. Rich and poor, new immigrants and even refugees, young and old, and I tried my best to inform them of their rights.

I informed them to get legal aid if they couldn’t afford a lawyer. Always, always informed youth of their right to refuse services that MCFD and I think would have be helpful, such as counseling! Never ever I have pushed any one to do or say something they were not comfortable doing and that they didn’t consent to!!! Even parents who were using drugs and putting infants and toddlers at risk had to consent for me to talk to their doctor in hopes of finding harm reduction strategies!

Now I have to reveal my private medical information to my employer without my consent or lose my job! Absolutely unacceptable! Ridiculously made to believe it’s what we swore to do when we agreed to serve the public.

– Anonymous Social Worker from the Ministry of Children and Family Development

I have worked for the BC Government going on 21 years. I started my career in field operations in the Ministry of Environment and moved on to land use planning.

Our family leads a healthy lifestyle, one filled with outdoor pursuits and caring for our natural environment. We have always made decisions related to our lives with careful consideration as to how those decisions may reflect our short and long-term goals and dreams – and we never make choices in haste or through external pressure. The recent vaccine mandate made by the BC Government to their employees will have an immediate and lasting detrimental impact on myself and my family. My wife also faces termination with her municipal employer with a similar mandate being forced upon employees at her job site. Two salaries instantly gone. Our daughter is in 6^th grade and we have always encouraged her to stand up for freedom and personal health choices. 

I’m truly emotionally and physically devastated to know that my employer is now bullying and coercing me into getting a medical intervention to keep my job…essentially holding my livelihood and my family hostage until I concede. My family has always believed in vaccination as an important tool in managing personal health. Myself, I am fully vaccinated for most common diseases, as is my wife and daughter (our daughter just received the Hep B vaccine thus completing her full suite of historically common vaccines). Making note that we chose to put vaccines in our body that have been through rigorous analysis and decades of testing. We are not anti-vaxxers, but we are vaccine choice. 

I fear most for our daughter, who has seen a world transformed in recent years.  She has seen me break down and cry, driven to deep depression and anger over the loss of my job – a job that I love and sacrificed so much for – and that of my wife’s employment as well – our entire life is to be uprooted and torn apart, just because we refuse to take a vaccine (it really isn’t a true vaccine- but rather a treatment) that is being forced upon us. 

I will also share now that my daughter, wife and I contracted Covid-19 in October 2021…we indeed did survive – a cold/flu that lasted a week – my daughter was 100% within two days. Our new natural immunity has helped us better understand this strain of the Coronavirus. Staying healthy, both mentally and physically, is the key. 

In closing, I say to those who are behind this misdirected and unethical plan to force a person to take something against their will to keep their job and career – look long and hard at what you are doing to families, let go of your power and let people make their own decisions when it comes to their personal health. 

– Anonymous section head in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy

An enjoyable seven years with a natural resource ministry that might be coming to an abrupt end. The BC Public Service is an employer that touts diversity and inclusion and a gender-based analysis, unless it is inconvenient and doesn’t fit an agenda. This mandate to inject people with an experimental vaccine for a virus where the majority of the population is not at risk in order to remain employed is nothing but coercive. I do not feel fully informed nor do I feel like I can make this decision without fear of reprisal. There is an insidious agenda at play, borrowing from the playbook of totalitarianism, and that does not belong in the 21st century west. I will not bow down. I will not give in. I will not allow these dangerous ideals to rob me of my sovereignty.

Now, to clarify, I am not “anti-vax”. That’s a convenient insult used by the failing corporate media and our own bent leadership. It’s untrue. I have had all of my vaccines and even flu shots some years. I think vaccines are great. My kids will get their routine shots. Even the mRNA vaccines make sense if you’re at risk. However, the risk/reward for young and healthy people does not make sense. And that should be a choice. There are many other ways we can mitigate risk. How about making sure you have adequate vitamin D, exercise, and controlled blood sugar and blood pressure? How about remote work for those unvaccinated? How about waiting until there are better long-term data on vaccines? None of these options are even discussed, let alone considered. It’s do as I say, or else. That is not going to fly.

I am a primary bread winner in my family and losing my job will not be easy. There is a lot of associated anxiety. I will miss my team, my work, and my contributions to protect this amazing province. I am very saddened by our leadership, and I suspect it is purely political, with most actual executive and managers in the organization in disagreement. But, the good part of Canadians is also a curse: polite and passive, and prefer to not stir the pot and speak out when things we know are wrong are happening. Here’s to hoping for change, for the better, for us all.

– Anonymous BC Public Service Employee

The post Employee Impact Statements Oct 31, 2021 appeared first on BCPS Employees for Freedom Society.