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That’s an insane subject line to write; seems to be true tho, and I don’t think it is the one incident.
https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-vaxxers-delayed-an-ambulance-2021-9
I went looking to see if anyone in Canada is talking about time-and-place or whatever they do there to limit protest activity around critical infrastructure, and found this opinion piece. Link does not imply endorsement of the person writing the opinion piece (I don’t understand Canadian media or personalities well enough to know where on the political spectrum this falls), altho I do agree with the thrust of the opinion.
https://www.tvo.org/article/condemning-anti-vax-hospital-protests-isnt-enough-we-need-action
In particular:
“I spent some time this morning on the phone with a few smart people who are knowledgeable about civil liberties and the Constitution. Even jerks have the right to protest, one of them said to me with a laugh. They also have a right to protest loudly, raucously, and even profanely. In doing so, they may and often do outrage the sensibilities of broader society. But except when it comes to crowd control and the basic prevention of nuisances, law enforcement should always take a minimal stand when confronted with protests. The danger here is that the protests may tip over into blocking access to essential facilities. What is needed is clarity, both legal and practical, on what will be tolerated and what won’t be. And that clarity must be universally shared by all.
It would not be impossible to establish such clarity, at least in terms of what’s permitted. My smart constitutional brains were all stumped when I asked whether there were something specific in the law that already guaranteed access to medical facilities. The consensus seemed to be that there ought to be but that earlier framers of the law might have taken that so for granted it might not be specifically spelled out in any existing law. Laws against harassment and intimidation could apply and already exist. There are laws about transportation infrastructure that can be engaged if roads and sidewalks are physically blocked, but hospitals themselves may be an odd omission from lists of critical protected infrastructure.”
The Canadian constitution, legal precedent and framework, etc. are all different from the US in many ways both large and small. But I think what _is_ shared across our two countries — and around the world — is a shocking realization that _because_ hospitals (ambulance, red cross, red crescent, etc. even in wartime — _especially_ in wartime!) enjoy special protection morally, ethically, culturally, we have perhaps failed to protect them legally and statutorily.
There are a lot more of us than there are of them; we should at least make them engage in their protected speech and assembly activities _somewhere where doctors, nurses and ambulances_ don’t have to see or deal with their shit while working. The absolute last thing we need is for our entire health care workforce to quit en masse because we are not doing anything at all to protect them from an enraged mob.
https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-vaxxers-delayed-an-ambulance-2021-9
I went looking to see if anyone in Canada is talking about time-and-place or whatever they do there to limit protest activity around critical infrastructure, and found this opinion piece. Link does not imply endorsement of the person writing the opinion piece (I don’t understand Canadian media or personalities well enough to know where on the political spectrum this falls), altho I do agree with the thrust of the opinion.
https://www.tvo.org/article/condemning-anti-vax-hospital-protests-isnt-enough-we-need-action
In particular:
“I spent some time this morning on the phone with a few smart people who are knowledgeable about civil liberties and the Constitution. Even jerks have the right to protest, one of them said to me with a laugh. They also have a right to protest loudly, raucously, and even profanely. In doing so, they may and often do outrage the sensibilities of broader society. But except when it comes to crowd control and the basic prevention of nuisances, law enforcement should always take a minimal stand when confronted with protests. The danger here is that the protests may tip over into blocking access to essential facilities. What is needed is clarity, both legal and practical, on what will be tolerated and what won’t be. And that clarity must be universally shared by all.
It would not be impossible to establish such clarity, at least in terms of what’s permitted. My smart constitutional brains were all stumped when I asked whether there were something specific in the law that already guaranteed access to medical facilities. The consensus seemed to be that there ought to be but that earlier framers of the law might have taken that so for granted it might not be specifically spelled out in any existing law. Laws against harassment and intimidation could apply and already exist. There are laws about transportation infrastructure that can be engaged if roads and sidewalks are physically blocked, but hospitals themselves may be an odd omission from lists of critical protected infrastructure.”
The Canadian constitution, legal precedent and framework, etc. are all different from the US in many ways both large and small. But I think what _is_ shared across our two countries — and around the world — is a shocking realization that _because_ hospitals (ambulance, red cross, red crescent, etc. even in wartime — _especially_ in wartime!) enjoy special protection morally, ethically, culturally, we have perhaps failed to protect them legally and statutorily.
There are a lot more of us than there are of them; we should at least make them engage in their protected speech and assembly activities _somewhere where doctors, nurses and ambulances_ don’t have to see or deal with their shit while working. The absolute last thing we need is for our entire health care workforce to quit en masse because we are not doing anything at all to protect them from an enraged mob.