Mask-exempt Parksville customer goes on HUNGER STRIKE after Pharmasave denies prescription Remember when discriminating against people based on their medical, physical, and cognitive conditions was a bad thing? I miss those days. Back before mask mandates, lockdowns, and snitch lines were a thing. It’s all but a distant memory now. These days, it seems like it’s the “new normal” to discriminate against people if their health condition makes them mask-exempt. That’s precisely what happened to Ela Tanase, a Parksville, B.C., resident who was refused service at a Pharmasave when she went in without a mask to pick up her pain medication. Ela is mask exempt because of an underlying health issue, and as per B.C.’s human rights laws, she’s not required to divulge what that issue is to justify her mask exemption. But that didn’t matter to Pharmasave. They refused to listen and kicked her out of the store! If that wasn’t humiliating enough, the police were called, and when they arrived, they issued Ela a $230 ticket. It wasn’t until Ela embarked on a 6-day hunger strike that her pharmacy finally relented and allowed her to pick up her medication!\ Isn’t it ironic that a place that is supposed to help citizens with their medical needs is the same place ignoring their medical mask exemption? Why bother outlining mask exemptions in the law if it can just be ignored? Lucky for Ela, she doesn’t have to worry about paying that ticket. We set her up with one of our top-notch lawyers to challenge her citation.Hiring lawyers to defend a $230 ticket may sound strange, considering it will cost way more to fight the ticket than to simply pay it off. But this isn’t about the money — it’s about standing up for what’s right and sending a message that Canadian civil liberties are worth defending. |
CAFE
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