Frustrations are boiling over due to reported noise and disturbance caused by a group of anti-vaccine mandate protesters at the Pacific Highway Border Crossing in South 性视界传媒.
Protesters started to gather in the Creative Kids Learning Centre parking lot at 388 175a St. Monday morning and have remained since.
Protesters are using the parking lot 鈥� which accommodates a plaza of several other businesses 鈥� to park their vehicles while they stand on a sidewalk adjacent to the highway. The group has not blocked vehicle access to the border.
Creative Kids owner Sandra Christian contacted Peace Arch News to voice her frustration of not only the protesters, but the inaction from 性视界传媒 RCMP and City of 性视界传媒 bylaw.
鈥淭hey are right in the parking lot of my childcare centre,鈥� Christian said. 鈥淭hey are honking their horns, they鈥檙e screaming and yelling, they鈥檙e playing music鈥� We have babies trying to sleep, we have children that need to play outside.鈥�
Christian said tow truck companies won鈥檛 remove the protesters鈥� vehicles from the parking lot without police presence.
鈥淭he police are kind of just wiping their hands clear, bylaws won鈥檛 do a fricken thing because they are on private property, but yet they are not,鈥� she said.
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Christian said the protesters have set up portable toilets, tents, and heaters.
鈥淭hey said they are not moving until the mandate has changed.鈥�
Tuesday morning, there were about 40 to 50 protesters in the area.
George Diszhazy, who came from North Vancouver, told PAN that they are peaceful.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to use Gandhi鈥檚 approach to this. It鈥檚 the only way to go. You have to show that we are peaceful and we love freedom and that鈥檚 the way we鈥檙e going to win this,鈥� Diszhazy said.
Diszhazy said the protesters are there to 鈥渄efend Canada鈥檚 freedom.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of people are not noticing that freedom is slipping away.鈥�
He noted that he鈥檚 not anti-vaccine, rather he鈥檚 anti-mandate.
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鈥淧lease don鈥檛 force me to take something that I don鈥檛 want to take. I don鈥檛 trust Big Pharma. I didn鈥檛 trust Big Pharma before all of this happened and I sure don鈥檛 trust them now, either,鈥� he said.
性视界传媒 RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn said police are actively monitoring the situation at the border to ensure public safety.
Munn said RCMP are attempting to engage with the protest organizers to see if they can come to an agreement to relocate the protest away from the daycare centre.
鈥淲e do try to find some middle ground because we have a job to do, but we also respect the fact that they have the right to protest, but they also don鈥檛 have the right to disrupt other people鈥檚 business or enjoyment of their property,鈥� Munn said.
Munn said if people in the area observe illegal activity, they should immediately contact RCMP and file a police report.
Munn agreed that protesters using private property to park their vehicles does add to the challenge.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something police can enforce, unfortunately.鈥�
Munn described enforcement of the protest as a 鈥渇ine line.鈥�
鈥淗owever, with that said, if people are being negatively impacted by the protest, observing criminal activity, we are encouraging them to make a police report. Our officers continue to be actively engaged and we will take enforcement actions as required,鈥� Munn said.
The City of 性视界传媒 has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The protest at the Pacific Highway border was inspired by a protest in the nation鈥檚 capital.
A convoy of trucks has locked down sections of Ottawa in protest of the federal government mandate on vaccination for truckers entering and exiting the country.
The 鈥淔reedom Convoy 2022,鈥� which is costing Ottawa Police more than $800,000 per day, has been ongoing since Jan. 29.
aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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