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Picture this, British Columbia, October 2021. It is the cold and flu season. In 2020 an infamous bug emerged called COVID-19. The province of British Columbia decided that as of November 2021, all provincial public servants must disclose their confidential medical information by showing proof of their COVID-19 vaccination to keep their employment.
From this mandate, a little group called the BC Public Service Employees for Freedom (the “BCPSEF”) was formed.
The BCPSEF was spontaneously organised over social media by some of these provincial employees who were about to be put on leave without pay. They strongly believed that the government’s draconian measures violated their constitutional right to medical privacy and bodily autonomy.
In February 2022, BCPSEF became a not-for-profit society, with its main goal being to bring legal action against the provincial government’s mandate.
As an immigrant of this great country, never in a million years would I have ever imagined myself and my fellow public servants, would be in the position we found our selves in during COVID.
As a 10-year old girl immigrating with my family, I did not understand the gravity of our move and why I had to leave my friends and the comfortable life I had in Hong Kong.
However, after the events that occurred in Hong Kong when the Government of China reneged on the deal that they had struck with the citizens of Hong Kong, I understood why my mother immigrated us prior to Hong Kong reverting back to communist rule. I understood very clearly that my mother moved us here so her children wouldn’t have to live under a tyrannical dictatorial rule.
However, when the mandates were implemented all across British Columbia and all across the country, I couldn’t believe that I was now experiencing the slow progress of communism being implemented and occasionally I would break down in tears while hearing other people’s stories or recounting my story in return.
One of the stories that really broke my heart was when members of our organisation reported that fellow BC public servants had taken their own lives due to job loss related to the mandates (but due to privacy concerns I cannot verify this). However, a media report by Rebel News confirms a BC Transit worker, a woman in her 30’s who did not comply with the mandates, lost her job and shortly thereafter committed suicide.
So, in June 2022 when I was terminated from my 25-year career with the Province of BC, I volunteered with BCPSEF so I could use the knowledge I had gained from working at the BC Supreme Court as a Deputy District Registrar and with the Public Guardian and Trustee’s office as a Paralegal to help BCPSEF in any way I could.
BCPSEF’s first Court filing took place in February of 2022, with a Judicial Review Petition seeking that the pending terminations of BC public servants be halted, pending the Court’s review of the government’s mandate.
This petition was unfortunately unsuccessful, and the Court denied halting the terminations of the employees. The Judicial review of the government’s decision was set to be heard in July 2023. However, with the government rescinding their mandate in April 2023, our group had to take a different approach.
Our next filing was with the Labour Relations Board (the “Board”) under Section 12 of the Labour Relations Code. This was against the BC Government Employees Union (the “BCGEU”) for failure to represent its union members who were impacted by the mandate.
The Board has denied our filing. Our lawyer responded with a request for reconsideration under section 141 of the Labour Relations Code. However, the Board denied our review and we are now considering our options.
On October 30, 2023 a Class Action lawsuit (the “Lawsuit”) was filed against His Majesty the King in Right of the Province of British Columbia and Dr. Bonnie Henry in her capacity as Provincial Health Officer for the Province of BC. The Lawsuit was filed by one of the members of BCPSEF and it seeks various damages and misfeasance in Public Office.
Further it seeks an order pursuant to section 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Finally, it also seeks a declaration that section 92 of the Public Health Act be read so that its effects do not limit rights established under the Charter with respect to Charter Damages.
These filings are highlights of what BCPSEF has done or have been involved with. To learn more about our group or if you would like to help us financially with our legal battle,
