Vaccine protest is more than vaccines and mandates

The disruption of Remembrance Day ceremonies in Kamloops and Kelowna was about more than vaccines and more about mandates.

In Kamloops, a young man began to recite In Flanders Fields, before adding a his opinion about remembering forefathers who fought for our freedoms. He put an emphasis on freedom and then condemned vaccine mandates and government propaganda "forced down our throats."  A middle-aged man, who said he was a veteran, interrupted the speaker, dropping F-bombs for all to hear.

The way the vaccination debate is shaping up it’s more than vaccines – people are taking a stand against what they see as government control and intrusion into their lives. They see it as government propaganda "forced down our throats." Vaccine mandates result in job losses for those who do not bow to the government’s edicts. They interpret that as an assault on freedom. They don’t see government rules as privilege, but as a loss freedom.

A number of mandate deadlines are coming up in the next few days and weeks, and if the vaccination rate does not pick up dramatically there will be a lot of people off their jobs. Those people see themselves as powerless victims at the hands of the government, their lives being disrupted, so their response is to stand firm on the issue, even though it is secondary in itself.

It boils down to “nobody tells me what to do.” And when that becomes the guiding principle, it’s an even greater challenge for government to deal with. The more control government assumes the more the resistance grows. And when that resistance gets large enough it will impact the daily lives of all British Columbians – not enough people to keep our society working as we feel it should. When there are not enough first responders – nurses, doctors, police, fire and ambulance.

Things are not going to be pretty for the next few weeks and months, and Health Minister Adrian Dix and Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry may have to learn to walk on water.