Police investigating after protesters harass families as children get their vaccines in North Bay
Abby Blaszczyk took her seven-year-old son to be vaccinated Sunday in North Bay, and the experience has left her and her young child upset, after they were harassed by anti-vaccination protestors.
“As we pulled in they just verbally assaulted us. I had a seven- and four-year-old in the car,” Blaszczyk said.
“They were swearing and just screaming at us. There (were) men with megaphones, and as I came out one man with a megaphone screamed that I had just injected my son with poison.”
In a news release Tuesday, the North Bay Police Service said they are investigating what went on at the clinic and said charges could be laid.
"Where criminal acts are found to have occurred, police will take appropriate enforcement action, including laying charges," police said.
"The North Bay Police Service respects the rights of individuals to peacefully protest, but will not tolerate any interference with people’s right to safety when accessing health care and attending a vaccination clinic."
Police said they will be providing an increased police presence at future clinics and, "if criminal behaviour takes place, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action."
Blaszczyk said the experience inside the vaccine centre at One Kids Place went smoothly and she said the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit ran an organized vaccination clinic.
Outside, it was a different story.
“They had signs that were just completely untrue, they said save the children and stuff like that,” she said. “They were screaming at every family that was walking through.”
The unpleasant scene continued as she and her child tried to go home.
“As we left through the actual parking lot and had to pass the group, they screamed and told my son that I was a murderer, they told me I was committing genocide, and then we drove away,” added Blaszczyk.
CTV News reached out to the health unit and the North Bay Police Service, but no one was made available.
North Bay Mayor Al McDonald said he would like to see legal action taken.
“I’ve written the chief and the chair of the police services board, and I did convey the concerns I was hearing from our citizens to them, said McDonald.
“I’m going to talk to our legal and our security to see what we can do to assist.”
“But, I think it’s really important, that these individuals if they are choosing to be vaccinated they shouldn’t be blocked and they shouldn’t be intimidated at all,” he added.
While the experience for the Blaszczyks was one they don’t want to re-live, she said she believes in the vaccine and will be taking her four-year-old daughter to get vaccinated in the New Year.
“I believe in the science of vaccines, and I was very proud to have him vaccinated,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.