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OPINION: Canadian health-care workers share open letter of opposition to ‘hate-filled convoys’

‘We are not heroes. We are not villains. We are exhausted, just as you are.’
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More than 1,400 health-care professionals have signed an open letter criticizing vehicles clogging the streets of Ottawa saying they “will not hide out of fear of violence from hate-fuelled convoys.” (Black Press Media files)

Remember two years ago when we banged pots and pans to celebrate the hard work of health-care workers as they toiled on the frontlines of a global pandemic?

Now, those same workers are forced to hear the honking of a handful of petulant truckers and childish sociopaths claiming “freedom” as if they weren’t already completely free to drive all over the country, scream and chant any garbage they want, even clog city streets and try to intimidate the rest of us.

But you’ve read enough from me on this topic in this space for this week. The following is an open letter signed by hundreds (probably thousands by publication time) of health-care workers across Canada.

February 5, 2022

“We, the undersigned physicians, nurses, health-care workers, and public health scholars across the country, will not hide out of fear of violence from hate-fuelled convoys.

“Some of us have grandparents who fled Nazis during the Second World War. Some of us have families that are refugees or migrants to Canada from other wars and violations of human rights. Some of us are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Baptist, Protestant, Catholic, atheist. Some of us identify as transgender, some as non-binary. Some of us are lesbian, gay, bisexual. Some of us are disabled. Some of us are Black, Asian, First Nations, Métis, Inuit.

“All of us believe strongly in social justice, equality, respect, and caring for one another in a community.

“We cannot and will not allow racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or any other form of hate or discrimination towards any person facing oppression in Canada, to stop us from doing our work.

“We cannot and will not allow disinformation to undermine science, nor will we tolerate groups that are organized around hate to undermine health-care policy or services.

“We will not cower. We will not hide. We will wear our scrubs in public, without fear, knowing that you – Canadians – have our backs.

“We will run our vaccine clinics, without fear, knowing that legislation in Canada prevents harassment or intimidation of health-care workers or patients seeking care. We will go to our hospitals. We will keep providing health care. The recent amendment to the Criminal Code, with Bill C-3, must be enforced to support health-care workers and protect patients.

“We will continue to provide quality care to each of you, whether you have followed our medical advice or not, because that is our commitment to you as physicians, nurses and health-care workers. We will not, however, tolerate any hate directed at us or at any marginalized community. Please treat us with the same respect and compassion that we offer to you.

“We are not heroes. We are not villains. We are exhausted, just as you are. We want the pandemic to be over, just as you do. We want our children to be in school, businesses to be open, for life not to be dictated by a virus that is threatening the world. We are doing everything we can to take care of you, to use all the tools that we have – vaccines, better masks, better ventilation in schools, curbing our activities – to get there. But there are still many people in Canada who are vulnerable. They deserve protection. Infants, young children, disabled people, elderly or immunocompromised people, people who work in high-risk jobs. We will not abandon them. Globally, also, we have a responsibility to ensure that safety is not a privilege, but a right for every person. This includes urgently improving access to vaccines globally.

“We appeal to the prime minister, to each of our premiers, to the mayors of all cities, to elected provincial and federal officials, to all community leaders, to all business owners and heads of organizations – and to all Canadians – to have our backs. This isn’t about partisan politics. It is about ensuring that we are safe while we care for you. That is all we ask.

“Thank you, for everything you’ve done to take care of each other. Please, now, take care of us.”

The letter was signed by 1,400 health-care workers as of Feb. 10.


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@PeeJayAitch
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