Toronto police officer opposes workplace vaccine mandate | Toronto Sun
Original article by: Scott Laurie – Toronto Sun
A Toronto police officer is challenging the mandatory vaccine policy revealed by the service last week.
In a letter to Toronto Police Chief James Ramer on Saturday, Det.-Const. Adrienne Gilvesy wrote “I am not going to disclose my vaccination status to the Toronto Police Service as my medical health is protected by privacy laws.”
She added that “my medical health and choices are private and confidential and I am not required to disclose these to anyone. The Toronto Police Service does not have the right to ask me about my vaccination status.”
In announcing its policy, Toronto Police said “all TPS members will be required to disclose and provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status by Sept. 13, 2021.”
Chief James Ramer said in a tweet that “The safety of the communities we serve, our members and our workplaces are of utmost importance.”
Asked for comment about Gilvesy’s letter, the TPS told the Sun Wednesday, “the policy and its implementation are currently in development so we are not able to provide further detail on this yet. At the moment, it is just the announcement that it will be mandatory,” wrote Connie Osborne of TPS Corporate Communications.
Gilvesy wrote that she doesn’t understand why — on February 10, 2021 — all TPS employees received an email saying “As all medical decisions, you will have the right to choose…”
Six months later, she says they are being given no choice.
“What laws have changed between the months of Feb. 2021 and Aug. of 2021 that would overrule this fact?” she asked in her letter in which she drew attention to “medical freedom” and our “God-given inalienable rights.”
She also had this message to the Chief: “I will hold you personally liable for any financial injury and/or loss of my personal income and my ability to provide food and shelter for my family if you use coercion or discrimination against me based on my decision to not participate in Toronto Police Service’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandates nor will I disclose my vaccination status to you.”
Gilvesy is being represented by constitutional lawyer Rocco Galati.
“We challenge any coercive measures to take the vaccine,” he said.
Galati is also representing Gilvesy — along with almost 20 other officers from across Ontario — in challenging pandemic restrictions and their enforcement by officers.
“These are officers who say that enforcing some of the measures is unconstitutional,” Galati said.
