A B.C. woman has been fined $2,300 for violating a provincial COVID-19 act after a viral video captured her heated confrontation about health restrictions in B.C.’s Southern Interior.
The incident in front of South Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver on Feb. 11, which featured an adult woman arguing and swearing with teens about COVID-19 restrictions, had racial undertones, according to students who spoke to Global News.
“(The woman) was pointing at us and telling us to go home,” said one student, who is of South Asian descent. “In the video, you can hear her say, ‘I deserve to be in this country. Do you?’”
The student said the woman’s comment implied “that we don’t belong in this country because of the colour of our skin.”
In an email to Global News on Friday, RCMP said the woman was fined $2,300 under the Access to Services (COVID-19) Act.
Charges were expected, with Oliver RCMP Sgt. Don Wrigglesworth saying earlier in the week that “the actions of these protestors are unacceptable. The safety of children at school is very important and a place of learning appears to have been violated.”
Wrigglesworth added, “I have spoken with the family of the young lady involved and will continue to liaise with her and her family. The offending adult female has been identified and charges are forthcoming.”
The woman has been identified as Silke Schulze, and, according to an Okanagan newspaper, she issued an apology this week.
In the letter, obtained and published by the Penticton Herald, Schulze said there was no excuse for her behaviour, that she should have practised better control and that her intent was to never cause anyone any harm.
“I do not have any ill feelings about any race,” Schulze said in her apology.
“I can not take back the mean and awful things I said to the minors at the school. I am, however, sick about the whole situation, more sorry than can ever be expressed and the awful impression I gave to the children.”
The seven-paragraph apology can be viewed on the Herald’s website.
The act, which came into law in November 2021, established access zones for COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites, along with hospitals, schools and prescribed facilities, Mondays through Fridays, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The act says people must not:
- impede access to or egress from the facility
- physically interfere or disrupt the provision of services
- intimidate or attempt to intimidate an individual, or otherwise do or say anything that could reasonably be expected to cause concern for the individual’s physical or mental safety
More about the act can be accessed in a copy of Bill 20 online.
“Over the last few months, we’ve seen a small number of people protesting against COVID-19 protective measures by blocking access to healthcare facilities and schools,” Premier John Horgan said in announcing the legislation.
“While everyone has a right to protest, interfering with patients accessing hospital care or with kids trying to get to school is completely unacceptable. This legislation will help to keep these important facilities secure and ensure the safety of both those who use them and those who work in them.”
The province added that the act will give police the power to arrest or issue tickets to anyone impeding access to a facility, disrupting services, or intimidating or attempting to intimidate an individual within access zones.
The act will continue until July 1, 2023, though the province says it may be repealed earlier if it’s no longer required.