'Not against vaccines in any way': Group labelled 'anti-vax' by BC NDP says party 'mischaracterized us'
The president of the group whose conversation with BC Conservative Leader John Rustad dominated the election news cycle for several days has claimed the BC NDP “mischaracterized us for political advantage.”
Philip Davidson leads the BCPS Employees for Freedom Society, a not-for-profit created, in its own words, to “stand together for medical privacy and bodily autonomy,” particularly in the context of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He was fired in June 2022, he said, after 14 years in the public service, working most recently at the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training.
The group spoke with Rustad in June – after having invited, according to Davidson, all the provincial party leaders – and discussed vaccines and the pandemic.
Months later, the NDP publicized the discussion, in which Rustad said he “regrets” getting the “so-called vaccine.” He later apologized for having “misunderstood” a question from one of the group’s members about “Nuremberg 2.0,” a reference to the trial of Nazis at the end of the Second World War. Davidson said he “personally [doesn’t] support” that "rhetoric" and his society “has never [supported it].”
Now Davidson – who told NowMedia video host Jim Csek he finds it “fascinating” that so few journalists had sought to interview him about the video – is frustrated with the NDP for its decision to use the video to attack a political rival.
He’s particularly upset about his organization being referred to as “an anti-vax group” by the NDP.
“I just want to dispel that notion right away here,” he said. “We have both vaccinated and so-called unvaccinated members within our society. We're not against vaccines in any way. We believe in medical privacy and bodily autonomy and freedom of choice. We are against, however, mandates, being coerced to make medical decisions and being punished for not revealing your private medical information and so forth.”
The former policy worker – who’s now back at school studying law – said he sees the vaccine mandate, since rescinded, as “an ideal political wedge issue” that the NDP has “very cynically used.”
It “plays to a certain segment of the population,” he said, but he doubts “how effective it will be.”
In July of this year, John Rustad met with an anti-vax group that is suing Dr. Bonnie Henry.
He said he regrets getting “the so-called vaccine” and accuses Dr. Henry of using it for “control on the population.” pic.twitter.com/m2h3IHAyK0
“I think the NDP and David Eby feel that this is the issue bar none, which is why they've repeated [it] so many times,” he added. “They've used our video, they've mischaracterized us for political advantage. We saw it from the beginning, and they've continued, but I think the steam is kind of running out of that engine for them and they have a lot of other problems on their hands.”
Rustad, he explained, “spoke to us very frankly about his personal experience of the vaccine and that he regretted it.” That, he reckons, “is actually a view that's pretty common amongst a lot of people.”
Davidson’s group claims to represent hundreds of former public service workers in British Columbia. The BC government has previously told NowMedia that 315 workers were fired for refusing to share their COVID-19 vaccination status during the pandemic, but Davidson thinks the true figure, counting people who quit, could be in the thousands.
The BCPS Employees for Freedom Society has filed a class-action lawsuit against the provincial government and Dr. Bonnie Henry, claiming punitive damages. The suit is yet to be certified, however, so has not been tested in court, and the BC government has previously told NowMedia it will not comment on it because it’s an active case.
Davidson said the group is expecting certification hearings for the suit in April.
Our June 18, 2024, conversation with @Conservative_BC Leader, @JohnRustad4BC. We thank Mr. Rustad for speaking with us and answering BCPSEF and @UHCWBC member questions.
We look forward to hearing from B.C.'s other political leaders in the lead up to the October 19, 2024,… pic.twitter.com/s60cQdnO3N
— BCPS Employees for Freedom (@bcpsef) July 23, 2024
“What we just went through over the last four years is very traumatic for all of us, for society and for all of us as individuals,” he said. “If we don't deal with that trauma and properly come to terms with it and find accountability for those who unnecessarily inflicted harms on people, then we're not going to be in a better place as a society, as a province.”
The BC government, however, has previously said the vaccine mandate was put in place “in the height of the pandemic” and was designed to “protect BC Public Service employees.”
It said it “helped keep us safe” and stressed that 98 per cent of employees complied with the requirement.
“The BC Public Service took a cautious approach in maintaining the policy through the fall and winter 2022/23 respiratory illness season,” the ministry told NowMedia earlier this year.
“With thoughtful consideration, the vaccine policy was rescinded in full as of April 3, 2023.”
Vaccination, it added, is no longer required to work for the BC Public Service, though employees are “strongly” encouraged to keep up to date on their shots.
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