Western Standard - June 03, 2022


WATCH： Unvaxxed Albertan recalls 'horrific' ordeal returning to Canada at land border


Episode Stats


Length

20 minutes

Words per minute

181.65506

Word count

3,712

Sentence count

211

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, Melanie Rizdin and Brooke Patterson share their experiences with travel. Melanie shares her story of how she was unable to travel due to a brain tumour and how she managed to get across the US border. Brooke shares her experience with flying across the United States and how it changed her life.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hello, I'm Melanie Rizdin with the Western Standard. Thanks for joining me.
00:00:04.140 And also joining me today is Brooke Patterson. She is a holistic therapist and a manual osteopath.
00:00:11.220 And Brooke is a Canadian citizen who recently decided to do some travel.
00:00:17.820 Brooke, thanks for joining us and for sharing with us what your experience was.
00:00:24.080 First of all, are you comfortable with letting us know, you know, why travel would be difficult for you?
00:00:34.760 Yeah, so thanks for having me to share my story.
00:00:38.080 I think there are so many others that would like to share theirs as well,
00:00:42.060 but they don't have a story to tell because they're not allowed to go anywhere.
00:00:45.740 So I am, I have chosen to be unvaccinated.
00:00:48.760 Um, my personal reasons, which I will share, which are really nobody's business,
00:00:54.540 um, is that I did have a brain tumor years ago and I just don't, I, I, I don't feel that this is best for me.
00:01:03.740 And, uh, so yeah, so I, my mental health was declining rapidly over the past little while.
00:01:09.360 And I used to travel quite a bit and I, I am aware that that's a privilege to be able to do that,
00:01:14.360 but I, I was able to, and being told that I couldn't, I, I was kind of going, just feeling so incredibly trapped.
00:01:25.820 As I'm sure, uh, quite a few Canadians, uh, who are in a similar situation, unable to travel feel.
00:01:33.880 Yeah, absolutely.
00:01:35.320 And, and really, uh, you know, so my story, yes, I have made that choice.
00:01:39.980 There are people who might treat, who have been vaccinated either with one vaccine
00:01:45.000 and have had severe reactions and they are also not able to travel.
00:01:49.420 So you decided, uh, you wanted to travel.
00:01:52.260 Why don't you tell us what happened?
00:01:54.160 Sure.
00:01:54.860 So my husband is double coerced.
00:01:57.080 So he was actually in the States for work and I, uh, we had talked about it cause he had wanted me to
00:02:03.260 either join him on a trip or something and was seeing sort of my mental health decline
00:02:07.540 and thinking that getting away would be good.
00:02:09.520 So, um, we talked about it, but I just woke up one morning and decided I'm going.
00:02:14.840 So I packed my bags, put some bathing suits in my bag and beach wear.
00:02:18.400 And I thought I'm going to a beach.
00:02:20.420 And I traveled down to, I drove down to a U S border and handed them my passport.
00:02:26.580 They said, where are you going?
00:02:28.060 How long?
00:02:29.260 Have a great trip.
00:02:30.140 Um, I, I, I was stunned.
00:02:33.700 I, I figured if I got turned around, I would get turned around.
00:02:38.340 But the fact that I had made it through and I was such ease, I was sort of euphoric.
00:02:45.120 I was trying not to pin the, the pedal to the metal and just fly and go, I'm free.
00:02:50.500 So I decided I was just, I was, I phoned him and said, I'm here.
00:02:55.140 I'm in the States.
00:02:56.100 Let's go somewhere.
00:02:57.920 And, uh, so he was, he was pretty shocked, but excited.
00:03:02.160 And, um, man, that, that feeling, I had no idea how trapped I felt until I had experienced
00:03:07.920 some of that freedom.
00:03:09.900 Absolutely.
00:03:10.680 And so you met up with your husband, um, and traveled through different States or did
00:03:15.760 you stay in one place?
00:03:17.180 No, I, I landed in, uh, Montana and then flew to, uh, Florida, spent a week there and
00:03:24.660 you're kind of going as we go and, and just had the most remarkable, remarkable time.
00:03:30.840 I was two nights, uh, in Montana.
00:03:33.220 And I remember even the day that I had sort of arrived, even after a few hours, I felt
00:03:39.460 like I could have gone home and felt, uh, some reprieve, um, of just having to just having
00:03:49.700 experience sort of that freedom, I guess.
00:03:52.840 And it really wasn't, it was just that it's not a constant thing hovering over your head
00:03:57.120 about what you're not allowed to do.
00:03:59.280 Well, I was going to ask, like, so what were you seeing in Montana?
00:04:03.280 What were you seeing in Florida?
00:04:04.300 What was life like?
00:04:06.780 Absolutely normal.
00:04:08.220 Flying on a plane.
00:04:09.280 Some people wore masks.
00:04:10.440 You didn't have to.
00:04:11.880 Um, it was like, it didn't even exist.
00:04:14.980 We actually met a doctor down there who was, uh, met him sort of along the beach and he
00:04:19.000 was actually from Ottawa and, um, you know, got into a little discussion about things.
00:04:24.100 And, you know, my husband and daughter were traveling to Paris for her graduation and I
00:04:28.420 can't go, couldn't go.
00:04:30.400 And he kind of asked why, and I skirted around the issue and finally said, well, I'm, I've
00:04:34.780 chosen not to.
00:04:35.580 And he said, not a big deal, whatever.
00:04:37.400 And, and that was it.
00:04:39.260 And I have literally lost friends of 14 years over that exact discussion.
00:04:47.060 I have lost family over that exact interaction and to have a perfect strangers go, and he's
00:04:53.160 a doctor, right?
00:04:54.360 I, uh, an ER doctor, uh, an anesthesiologist, he just said, oh, whatever.
00:04:58.740 And, you know, welcome.
00:05:00.080 We had dinner at his place a couple of nights.
00:05:01.720 Like it was so bizarre, it was hard for me to make sense in my brain of what one reality
00:05:08.580 is versus a different reality.
00:05:11.280 And it was quite fascinating.
00:05:14.260 And how long were you gone?
00:05:15.780 How long were you in the States for?
00:05:18.040 A full two weeks when I sort of came back across the border.
00:05:20.920 I said, you know, I was about a week.
00:05:22.100 And then I was like, oh no, it was actually two weeks.
00:05:26.240 And so when you came back, uh, what were your thoughts?
00:05:29.720 What were you, you know, were you worried, were you worried that you were going to have
00:05:33.500 trouble at the border returning to Canada?
00:05:35.960 What were your thoughts?
00:05:37.940 I knew they would have to let me back.
00:05:40.340 Um, I, I was prepared, uh, for some of the questioning that would be asked.
00:05:48.900 I, I, and you know, I, I fully admit I could have made my process easier, but there is, I
00:05:56.560 think it was a Dr.
00:05:57.520 and Agassi spoke a few weeks ago, there is what is right and what is legal.
00:06:01.420 And sometimes you need to do what is right.
00:06:04.600 And so I chose for myself to do what is right, to have my integrity intact at the end of the
00:06:10.000 process.
00:06:12.100 And so you got to the border, uh, what happened?
00:06:16.040 Yeah.
00:06:16.540 So I got to the border and, um, you know, they asked sort of the usual questions, where
00:06:21.820 have you been?
00:06:22.360 And, and I, and I was just curious, I said, you know, I'm just curious when other people
00:06:25.980 are coming across the border, do you ask them where they've been for the past few weeks?
00:06:29.740 And he said, well, no.
00:06:31.120 And I said, oh, so I'm just, you know, why, why does that matter to you?
00:06:34.300 And he said, well, I need to decide if I investigate you further.
00:06:36.520 And I said, well, I guess that's a choice.
00:06:38.520 It's just, it's funny to me that you're asking the Canadian citizen where I've been when you're
00:06:43.180 not asking perfect strangers who don't pay taxes in our country.
00:06:46.080 And he, I think at that point he was like, oh no.
00:06:49.800 And, and so I'm assuming at this point you had disclosed and it was known that you were
00:06:54.360 not vaccinated and you had left the country and we're coming back. 0.97
00:06:57.580 So the next question was, am I vaccinated?
00:06:59.580 And I said, yes, because I am against other things.
00:07:02.940 And then I said, I said to him, I said, look, I, I actually, I don't want to play games.
00:07:06.360 I said, I know that your specific question is, am I vaccinated against, uh, COVID-19 and no,
00:07:12.780 I'm not.
00:07:13.320 And he kind of rolled his eyes and he said, okay, well, have you filled in your arrived
00:07:18.600 can?
00:07:18.820 And I said, no, because I don't agree to the terms.
00:07:22.080 And he, he kind of, you know, I could tell he was frustrated.
00:07:26.720 And, um, at that point he said, uh, you know, do I have any alcohol or cigars or tobacco
00:07:33.520 products?
00:07:34.120 And I said, no, I have an airplane bottle.
00:07:36.280 He said, I've got that, but whatever.
00:07:38.160 Um, and then he said, I don't suppose you have a negative test.
00:07:41.500 And, and I said, no, because on the very back of the negative test, it states that it has
00:07:46.040 not been approved for asymptomatic testing.
00:07:48.140 So I said, I, I really don't need to take it.
00:07:50.420 It hasn't been approved for that.
00:07:52.540 And he said, okay, well, you're going to need to pull over.
00:07:55.940 And he, when he kept asking what my address was, and I said, does, do you need that for
00:07:59.180 me to enter my country?
00:08:00.080 He said, nobody would like your address.
00:08:01.520 Since I refused to give it to him, I suppose that would be on the arrive can app.
00:08:06.920 Um, but so anyway, so I, I got pulled over and they, they went through my car, um, found
00:08:15.420 some cigars that, you know, you're allowed 50.
00:08:17.340 I think I had 30 and I, I, it really wasn't my main concern because I was expecting there
00:08:21.940 to be some issues for me coming back into my country.
00:08:25.020 The fact that I was bringing in 30 cigars was really irrelevant to me at that point
00:08:29.380 when, you know, you can travel with 50 and I, yes, I didn't claim them.
00:08:33.100 I should have whatever.
00:08:35.460 So they found those and they were quite excited that they could charge me, uh, for those and,
00:08:41.400 um, put a block on, on, uh, my Nexus card and which in hindsight was actually a good thing
00:08:49.220 because I said to him, I said, I can't apply for Nexus anyways.
00:08:52.120 And he said, well, I don't know about that.
00:08:55.340 And I said, look, I had a brain tumor and I'm choosing not to get vaccinated.
00:08:58.920 So I'm not allowed to apply for Nexus.
00:09:00.680 And he said, he kind of shrugged his shoulders and I said, you know, I think what you would
00:09:04.460 say to somebody like that is I'm really sorry because I can't travel freely now because I
00:09:10.760 have had a personal health issue and now that's affecting my ability to travel.
00:09:15.040 And I said, that's, you would say, I'm sorry to hear that.
00:09:17.540 So if anything, it might've been a, maybe an opportunity for him to, to question that.
00:09:21.940 It's not just doing the right thing all the time.
00:09:24.220 You're doing what you're told to do.
00:09:27.560 So I got, yeah, so I got charged for the cigars.
00:09:30.440 Um, and they said, I don't suppose you'll speak to public health.
00:09:33.880 And I said, sure, I will.
00:09:35.940 And, uh, which I, I didn't have to, but I chose to.
00:09:40.860 And, and, you know, he asked me all the questions and I said, I didn't want to give
00:09:44.680 him my health status.
00:09:45.580 I said, I don't think it's relevant.
00:09:48.460 And he was extremely upset was I got a record.
00:09:52.340 He was yelling at me and, you know, you will be, um, find, you will be, uh, you need to
00:09:57.820 quarantine.
00:09:58.540 And if you don't, you will re it was just threat after threat, after threat, how I'm
00:10:01.820 putting my fellow countrymen at risk.
00:10:04.340 And I said, you know, I 10 minutes ago, I wasn't putting anybody at risk across the border.
00:10:08.380 Like, well, okay.
00:10:08.880 It was an hour and a half actually by this point, but you know, previously I wasn't
00:10:13.000 putting anybody at risk, but now all of a sudden I'm putting people at risk.
00:10:16.260 And I said, I just, how is this even possible?
00:10:20.380 And he just lost it.
00:10:22.720 So he said, you know, you'll receive a test for day one and day eight, you need to leave
00:10:26.380 now, or, you know, you'll receive those and you can go.
00:10:30.060 So I hung up and, um, the border control, I said, am I free to go?
00:10:34.900 They said, yeah, I didn't get any tests.
00:10:36.780 They didn't give them to me.
00:10:38.540 So I left and, uh, I'll be honest.
00:10:41.420 I pulled over and had a cry.
00:10:42.620 Cause I thought that was a lot of work to enter my own country, a lot of stress.
00:10:48.940 And I had a moment where I thought I wished I hadn't had that freedom because coming back
00:10:54.860 was so horrific, so horrific that it's like them opening up the cage for you to go freely.
00:11:02.620 And then you have to come back into the cage and just happily accept it.
00:11:05.900 And it was, yeah, it took me a bit to compose myself.
00:11:14.780 Now, uh, you had, uh, had told me that you have, uh, or, or that you were sort of pulled
00:11:22.460 over again and you have now received some fines.
00:11:25.660 Uh, what happened with that?
00:11:27.340 So I was pulled over.
00:11:29.420 So after I kind of stopped and tried to compose myself, I, um, I got pulled over about 30 minutes
00:11:35.500 later, I saw a car, a police car stopped on the side of the road, uh, RCMP.
00:11:39.980 And I, I kind of knew there were no lights on, it was fully parked.
00:11:44.940 And I thought, uh, here we go.
00:11:46.380 So I looked in the rear view mirror, sure enough, the lights went on.
00:11:49.020 And, uh, the officer came up and, you know, asked for my information.
00:11:53.260 At that point, I was feeling pretty beaten up and frustrated.
00:11:56.620 So I was handed to my stuff and he asked me to come out of the car.
00:12:00.060 And he said, you know, I'm really sorry to have to do this.
00:12:03.100 And he said, I really, I, you know, there was apparently an issue with the border.
00:12:08.380 Um, and I have to give you a fine because it's very expensive.
00:12:13.980 And he said, you know, I hope one day that police officers don't have to worry about public health
00:12:19.100 issues.
00:12:20.540 And so the fine is for $5,750.
00:12:25.100 And that was for not filling an arrive can, I assume it, it just, it says, uh, in contravention
00:12:30.860 of the, uh, quarantine act.
00:12:33.500 And he, he did direct my attention.
00:12:35.980 He said, I don't suppose you want to sign it.
00:12:38.380 I said, Nope, I don't consent to the ticket.
00:12:41.420 And he, uh, he did say, please notice on page two, this is how you fight it.
00:12:45.820 And he said, most of them are, he said all of the ones that he knows have been thrown out.
00:12:50.620 So he was advising of those.
00:12:53.420 Yeah.
00:12:54.220 What a waste of, of their, of resources for them to have to deal with this.
00:12:58.940 Yeah.
00:12:59.340 Yeah.
00:12:59.660 It's, uh, it's definitely putting them, I think in a very compromised position.
00:13:04.540 Um, and so you do plan to, to fight the ticket.
00:13:09.020 Yes.
00:13:09.340 I, I've sent it back.
00:13:10.300 I have registered mail of course, and, um, I've heard nothing.
00:13:14.620 Um, I sort of keep it on my fridge and, and part of that is just, you know,
00:13:19.100 I didn't realize that, that by doing, by taking my trip and, and sort of living my life freely.
00:13:25.500 And, you know, I was posting pictures because, and I sort of thought I might,
00:13:29.980 shouldn't have to, I thought I'm living my life.
00:13:32.620 I'm done not living my life.
00:13:34.540 I did that for three years after my brain sprout.
00:13:37.420 I called it, um, I'm not doing that again.
00:13:39.900 So I posted pictures and I, I was enjoying it.
00:13:43.260 And, um, the, uh,
00:13:49.180 the officer, I wish I would have had the wherewithal to say to the officer at the time
00:13:52.780 that I would like for them to start standing up because me as a citizen, one person,
00:13:59.180 I'm not making a difference.
00:14:01.100 They need to start standing up.
00:14:02.380 If he doesn't believe in it, there is right.
00:14:04.140 And there is what is legal.
00:14:05.820 And I just keep coming back to it.
00:14:07.100 I thought, wow, that's profound.
00:14:09.580 Well, and there have been, uh, quite a few officers, uh, whether RCMP, police, uh, military that have,
00:14:15.580 uh, taken a stand, uh, I think a lot of people are, are torn, uh, needing to provide for their families
00:14:23.100 and, you know, be gainfully employed, uh, versus making that stand.
00:14:28.540 So I think, again, it puts a lot of people into a very compromised position.
00:14:33.500 Have you received any other fines or tickets that you are anticipating or?
00:14:39.420 Um, I haven't, nobody checked up on me during quarantine.
00:14:43.660 So I have no idea, um, if they would assume that I wasn't, or if they would even check.
00:14:48.700 I'm, um, part of the, uh, my concern, when I came back, another friend knows a couple of police
00:14:59.500 officers and he said, who did you, who did you, uh, piss off?
00:15:03.180 And it's probably a lot of people, but, uh, the officers actually felt that six different
00:15:09.660 police officers on six different sort of occasions, felt that somebody that I knew had actually
00:15:14.860 reported me to either public health and, and said that, you know, I would be entering without
00:15:22.300 proper, you know, quarantine, or I, I'm not, I'm not exactly sure, but the fact that there was some doubt
00:15:29.020 as to the fact that it was actually border control phoning public health, I really don't know.
00:15:34.300 Mm-hmm. So you feel like the posts that you shared on, on, um, Facebook or social media would
00:15:41.740 have, uh, sort of exposed that to somebody who might've reported you?
00:15:44.860 Maybe. And, and again, I, I don't know. I have phoned public health. I have phoned the
00:15:50.060 privacy commission to, uh, just let them know that I, if that did happen and I did find out that that
00:15:59.100 had happened, I would be pursuing that further, but what I didn't anticipate was the amount of, um,
00:16:07.820 messages that I got of saying how courageous I was and how thankful people were that I did that
00:16:13.980 because it provided them with some hope and that far outweighs whatever that was. And it was hard for
00:16:22.700 me. I didn't want to make the story of my, my trip about this ticket. Um, it really was,
00:16:29.020 it was about providing hope for people, the psychological effect of being trapped in your
00:16:33.100 own country. People fight for that for China, Korea were horrified at that in other countries
00:16:39.820 and it's happening right here. And people are not standing up and saying, oh yeah, I don't,
00:16:46.060 well, they, they might go, oh yeah, maybe it's not right, but no, it's not right. We, we see it
00:16:51.500 in other countries, but we just can't see it right in front of us. For some reason, we think it's a
00:16:55.260 privilege and, uh, um, and yes, maybe that is, but it's something that we used to have and now we don't
00:17:01.580 have. Well, there are, uh, there are a number of lawsuits that have been brought against the,
00:17:08.460 the mandates, uh, against the federal government. Uh, and you know, those are obviously ongoing and
00:17:14.380 playing out in the courts. Uh, and of course on Monday we had the vote, uh, in parliament where it, uh,
00:17:22.380 it has been extended the, the travel back vaccine mandates have been extended for, uh, at least
00:17:28.700 another month, uh, in Canada and hoping to see change. There are many people that like you are,
00:17:36.780 are prisoners in their own country. Uh, I received an email the other day from, uh, a Canadian citizen
00:17:42.620 who lives in Korea and can't return home because they won't be able to again, leave to return to their 1.00
00:17:49.660 life in Korea and their work and their job and family. So, uh, it is, it's a, it's a devastating
00:17:55.340 situation for many families. And, uh, with the, the ticket you, you received, is there any kind of
00:18:01.260 court date on it? Uh, what's, what's next on this for you? I guess I just sit and wait. Um,
00:18:08.940 I can't remember what they said if I went, um, yeah, just sort of says wait for their instructions.
00:18:15.500 Okay. Uh, so I guess I'll just wait for their instructions, but to your point about people,
00:18:21.100 you know, not understanding, we also, you know, I have many friends who would like to travel and
00:18:26.060 see their families outside of the country and are worried about how to go about doing that. And
00:18:31.980 will they see these people, their family again, whether it's their child who is 20 something living
00:18:37.340 in another country, um, whether it's a parent who is sick, even across our own country. Um, this is no
00:18:43.980 longer about health and 100% about compliance because I, and the vote on Monday was absolutely
00:18:52.860 showed and proved that that is what this is about. This is about politics. This is not about health.
00:18:58.780 The fact that our, uh, healthcare system right now has 82% people fully vaccinated in the, in the ICUs
00:19:06.940 tells me that this is no longer about health because then we shouldn't be, if everybody gets
00:19:13.900 it and can spread it, then clearly this isn't about health. Right. Well, thanks for sharing your
00:19:22.780 experience, Brooke. We'll, we'll hopefully you can let me know what ends up coming with the ticket.
00:19:28.300 And, uh, if you do end up getting a, uh, a court date, uh, let us know and we'll perhaps follow that and,
00:19:35.820 and, uh, see how this ends up playing out for you. Would you do it again?
00:19:39.820 Yeah, I would. I, and, you know, the ticket, I, I do believe that they are, let's say fraudulent,
00:19:47.660 that, that they're actually not, that it's actually not law. It is a mandate and absolutely I'd do it
00:19:55.180 again. That, that break was so incredibly necessary. Absolutely. Yeah. And, uh, I think a lot of people
00:20:02.540 would argue too, part of the reason why they are not holding up in court in many circumstances is,
00:20:08.060 is the fact that they have been found to the unconstitutional. Very challenging times still
00:20:14.060 remain in this country and, uh, and we hope for change soon. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much.
00:20:20.540 Thanks for sharing, Brooke. Thank you, Mel.