The British Columbia government will be introducing rules later this fall to stop protesters from disrupting schools and hospitals.
In responding to questions from reporters on Monday morning, government house leader Mike Farnworth said the province has opted to put policy into law.
“It will be legislation and it will be introduced later this session,” he said.
Last month, B.C. Premier John Horgan said his government was looking to follow Quebec’s lead and put in rules banning protests at hospitals, schools and COVID-19 vaccination or testing sites.
The government was also considering changes to existing regulations to protect workers and people accessing essential services.
This comes after protests in Salmon Arm, B.C., where people barged into a school to protest a vaccination clinic. Health-care workers have also been verbally harassed and were blocked from doing their jobs during protests on Sept. 1 by people concerned about the province’s vaccination rules.
Unions in British Columbia support the idea of the province incorporating rules similar to Quebec’s.
Mike Old from the B.C. Hospital Employees’ Union says the rules should come in quickly and should also ensure picketing and other peaceful protests are still allowed.
“There are patients and families that are having some of the worst days of their lives and they shouldn’t have to run a gauntlet,” Old said last month.
Alberta announced last week it would be introducing new regulations, which are expected to come into effect soon.
Hospitals and other facilities that provide health services in Alberta will be under the same protection that railways, highways, and pipelines receive under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.
This law allows punishment for trespassing, interfering with operations and construction, and causing damage.
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