Montreal hospital protest attracts low attendance; Mayor Plante condemns anti-vax 'bullying'
A vaccine protest outside a major Montreal hospital on Monday -- one of a series of hospital protests across Canada -- appeared to fizzle, at least compared to what was announced by its organizers, with low attendance.
About a dozen protesters arrived at the Glen Hospital on Decarie Blvd. around 2 p.m. to show opposition to Quebec's new vaccine ultimatum, which will force unvaccinated health-care workers into unpaid leave.
However, the action still drew strong words from Montreal's mayor, Valérie Plante, who condemned them along with the protesters who targeted a local high school last week and said she was seeking legal tools to stop all such protests at public institutions.
"I mean, it’s their right to protest, but when it’s about going to school [to] bully kids, that’s a no," Plante said.
"When it’s about going to a hospital [to] bully nurses and all the employees and doctors, that is a no."
ROSES FOR 'SYMPATHY' WITH THE UNVACCINATED
The protesters at the hospital on Monday, mostly women, carried roses. They said the flowers were meant to symbolize their sympathy for health-care workers who are choosing not to get the vaccine.
Though some of the protesters wore scrubs, one woman told CTV that she wasn't actually a nurse herself, but had an administrative job at a hospital.
When asked why she attended the protest, she said she was in favour of free choice and didn't think it was fair to force health-care workers to get vaccines or lose their jobs.
When asked about the importance of protecting patients from infection, she answered that they can just as easily "get sick at the grocery store."
The organizing group, which calls itself Canadian Frontline Nurses, warned Canadians this weekend that protests would take place Monday afternoon at hospitals in all 10 provinces. In Montreal, the Glen was designated.
Politicians and hospital administrators across the country were nervous, with barricades erected outside some of the targeted hospitals.
PLANTE: 'WE WILL USE THE LEGAL TOOLS WE HAVE'
In Toronto and Ottawa, protests that started with a couple of dozen protesters have grown over the course of the afternoon.
However, at least in Montreal, the crowds that were imagined didn't materialize. More than an hour into the protest, nearly as many journalists were there as protesters.
The protesters stayed on the sidewalk of Décarie, just off hospital property, and didn't interfere with patients' coming and going.
Still, at a 2:30 press conference, Mayor Plante said she has no tolerance for this kind of protest, especially considering a more contentious one last week, when adult protesters arrived at a high school that was doing vaccinations and tangled with teachers who were trying to keep them away from students.
A girl at that school died last week, and the protesters also claimed she died from vaccine side effects, though her cause of death hasn't been released.
Plante said she wants the province and the city to all try to stop anti-vaccine protests at public buildings.
At hospitals, "those people are working to save our lives, so my message to [the protesters] today is that for the City of Montreal, it’s not acceptable," she said.
"And if they try to trouble any activities within a municipal building, where we’re doing vaccination, for example, we will use the legal tools we have to stop it."
She invited the ministers of health and education to look respectively at how they can do the same at their own properties, "to protect our kids and our population."
--With files from CTV's Matt Grillo
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Canadian government proposes new foreign influence registry as part of wide-spanning new bill
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is proposing a suite of new measures and law changes aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada, amid extensive scrutiny over past meddling attempts and an ever-evolving threat landscape.