‘Non-Compliance Picnic’ Voices Dissent against Vaxxports in Toronto

“The government’s simply not going to back off their forced mandates with the vaccine just because we want them to do it,” said Rose P, lead organizer of the ‘Non-compliance Picnic’ event which ran for several weekends in Toronto in late autumn, 2021. 

“They’re not going to listen to the people, we know that already. We’ve always got to stand up and take action in any creative way we can because otherwise, we’re going to lose all our freedoms,” Rose expanded.

Specifically what Rose was referring to was her opposition to the vaccine passports system currently implemented by the Ontario government; an ill-advised seeming measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 in some public venues, including restaurants, gyms, and select other venues. 

Of course on the surface the Ontario government claims to curb the spread of the Wuhan Virus as a pretext for instituting the vaccine passport program, however, critics of Ford’s handling of the pandemic thus far have called this move out for what it seems is; an ugly power grab by the government to take away even more freedoms from citizens. 

“They’re [the government] is trying to push everyone to the brink so they can bring in one-world government…What you’re gonna see is the UN Agenda 2030. You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy. Communism is on its way brother” said Hunter, a participant at the protest, as an explanation for his wanting to attend the protest. 

Indeed, while the provincial and federal governments would’ve easily brushed such statements off as ‘tinfoil hat conspiracy theories,’ government power grabs such as the Ontario vaccine passport system are making it hard for the government to deny they do not have some form of an authoritarian agenda.

“I’m just out here to eat good food, have a good time, and stand in solidarity. Just kickin’ it, you know?” James, one of the ‘Non-compliance Picnic’ protest event attendees, said as his reason for wanting to attend the protest. 

The ‘Non-compliance Picnic’ protest event took place on several Saturdays in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood; starting at the intersection of Logan and Danforth streets, with the intention of filling the sidewalks in this well-known section of the East downtown of the city. 

A couple of the protest events that were notable was the fairly massive police turnout. Even at the maximum turnout of attendees, the turnout from Toronto police was overkill, noticeable, and made their presence felt, although in true Canadian fashion they were not unfriendly and didn’t really step on any of the protesters’ toes. 

Another noteworthy aspect about the protest was the wild majority of drivers of vehicles who traversed the area of the protest seemed supportive and happy to see people getting out and actively protesting the government’s decisions.

All this being said, despite the surprisingly warm support of these drivers and pedestrians in communist-run Toronto, the turnout of actual protest attendees was semi-lackluster.

For the several weeks I attended the protest event, the turnout numbers varied from a max of 250 attendees, but numbers started flagging later in Oct. as the cold set in. This was the feedback given to the ‘Non-Compliance Picnic,’ and currently, there are no further events planned by the organization. 

Ian M, another lead organizer of the ‘Non-Compliance Picnic’ event stated:

It’s because, at the last picnic, people didn’t come because it was too cold. That is the apathy most Ontarians or Canadians seem to have these days,’ Ian continued. ‘Nobody wants to inconvenience themselves to do anything. They all wanna sit back and be keyboard warriors.

Ian expanded to say that he has been in communication with other protest organizers in Toronto and has found that these organizers are experiencing similar issues (i.e. lackluster turnout due to cold weather).

So while for the time being, while no specific ‘Non-Compliance Picnic’ events are currently scheduled, the organizers are encouraging any interested persons to attend the Nov. 20th, 2021 ‘World Wide Demonstration’ event scheduled to take place at noon at the North end of Queen’s Park in Toronto, because of the organizers of ‘Non-Compliance Picnic’ share many of the same goals and values as the ‘World Wide’ event.