Samantha Denuzzo said there is a lot of fear in the “community of concerned citizens" who are protesting Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and COVID-19 pandemic measures.
The Newmarket mother, who has attended a few protests herself and follows the posts organizing them on social media, said she missed the Sept. 5 protest in her hometown. Denuzzo said she is concerned about the long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccines and the restrictions coming for people refusing to get them — and she is glad to have found like-minded people online.
“We’ve had our backs pushed against the wall,” Denuzzo said. “There’s a whole group of concerned citizens right now that feel like they are about to lose everything.”
Newmarket got an up-close look at the protests that have followed the Trudeau campaign when the Liberal leader made a stop in town, with more than 200 protestors filling a downtown street.
Newmarket-Aurora Liberal candidate and incumbent MP Tony Van Bynen said although everyone has a right to protest, some of the things that occurred Sunday “crossed a line.”
“Screaming at kids for wearing masks; saying political leaders should be hung –– there's no place for that,” Van Bynen said. “Thankfully, there are far more folks in our community and across the country who think that kind of thing is reprehensible, no matter what their political beliefs are, and I think we can all take heart in that."
Ontario announced it would bring in a vaccine verification system Sept. 22, which Denuzzo takes issue with. She said she wants to see more information about the long-term effects of a COVID-19 vaccine, which she believes cannot be provided before more time passes.
She said the repercussions for not being vaccinated are severe, resulting in citizens being “shunned from society.” She said people like her are worried about losing their livelihood for not getting a vaccine.
“I just feel like Trudeau has completely disregarded all of those people who sit in the fear of not knowing what is to come,” she said. “I feel it is important we let him know we are still here.”
Van Bynen said though protestors tried to disrupt the Liberal event, the campaign will carry on.
“They tried to disturb our event, to scare us into a corner, to knock us down, but they didn’t succeed,” Van Bynen said. “It saddened me to see it happen in our community but as our leader has said, we will not let a mob dictate our policies.”
The protest sparked an outcry from some Newmarket residents who attended, including Denise Malley, who wrote that she witnessed intimadation and bullying of people of colour.
“I am an independent voter who was there to hear from Trudeau, and I was anticipating a free and robust exchange of ideas. What I did not expect to encounter, however, was such a shocking barrage of flagrant white supremacy in my hometown. I have lived in Newmarket for 52 years. I did not recognize a single one of these xenophobes,” Malley said.
In response to allegations of racism among protestors in Newmarket, Denuzzo pushed back against the characterization and said people from all walks of life are in the protest, and they are fighting for everyone.
“We are literally a group of concerned citizens who love and appreciate every single walk of life,” Denuzzo said. “We are literally trying to fight for humanity.”
She said she is unsure what might come next for the protests, but they are a scared group.
“We are tired. We feel like we are not being heard. We feel like we are not being cared for.”
