Bylaw opens door to ‘atrocities’?
Group rips mandatory mask rule
A group of people took to the streets Tuesday to protest Toronto’s mandatory mask bylaw, which came into effect that day.
Among them was Letitia Montana, who refused to wear a mask at St. Joseph’s hospital and was denied access to see a doctor about a possible broken finger.
“Why do our rights have to be suppressed so that somebody else would feel better?” she told CP24 at Yonge-Dundas Square.
“Is that the world we want to live in? That is what has led us to the greatest atrocities throughout history that have oppressed minorities, have oppressed dissonance. Anyone that doesn’t follow ... you’re an outcast, you’ve gotta be killed, you’ve gotta be ostracized.
“Is that the Canada we want to live in?”
The group protested at a few downtown corners, including Yonge and Bloor Sts., debating people who wore masks and handing out information cards.
Chris Saccoccia, who appeared Monday in a video podcast on Facebook with Montana, said he’s opposed to wearing a face covering because it will set a precedent for government officials to force further restrictions on the public.
“Today, they’re saying that masks are supposedly mandatory. I’m not opposed to you wearing a mask if you want to. What we’re opposed to is mandatory mask-wearing,” he said.
“We’re all about freedom of choice. Next month, it’s going to be no freedom of choice for contact tracing and then it’s going to be no freedom of choice for vaccination and then no freedom of choice for their biometric digital ID.
“This is the progression.
This is why they tried to make masks mandatory at the end of a pandemic.”
Saccoccia, who also goes by the name Chris Sky, was seen in a video pushing past a Longo’s grocery worker this week, saying he didn’t have a mask “because I have a medical condition. You’re welcome to call the police.”
“I made a video to prove they can’t deny you or arrest you ... and surprise, it went viral today on 6buzz,” he wrote on the Mothers Against Distancing Facebook page.
A dozen or so protesters, carrying signs that read “Hugs over masks,” travelled on the subway with bare faces.
TTC spokesman Stuart Green told CP24 that most riders are complying with the transit system’s mandatory mask rule, which came into effect July 2.
“Thankfully it was shortlived, and thankfully they all paid their fare,” he said of the protesters.
Before the TTC’s rule came into effect, Green said the transit authority had about 50-55 per cent compliance to 60 per cent after the announcement to make masks a must. Now, they’re seeing about 80 per cent of people wearing masks on the TTC.
Mayor John Tory called the protesters a small group of attention-seekers.
“These were people who were trying to, I think, gain publicity,” he said.
“They have a point of view on these kinds of things, which I respect, because there are a lot of points of view in a big city. And I just hope that, and am confident that, the majority of people will follow the law and will follow it because it’s common sense … We don’t want this virus to spread.”
Premier Doug Ford said the St. Joe’s incident with Montana was “unfortunate,” but continued to urge people to wear a mask when in a hospital or other indoor public spaces.
This is the progression. This is why they tried to make masks mandatory at the end of a pandemic.
Chris Saccoccia