Friday, February 24, 2023

FEDSFORFREEDOM

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

In October of 2021 employees of the federal public service were subjected to coercive vaccine mandates that infringed upon our right to medical privacy, bodily autonomy and informed consent.

Abandoned by our unions and threatened by our employer, FedsForFreedom has taken action in the pursuit of justice by retaining lawyer Umar Sheikh. This legal action is open to all Federal Public Servants including both unionized and non-unionized members of crown corporations, core-departments and agencies. Our campaign will support federal public servants whose rights have been violated as a result of the policy, including, but not limited to, employees who:

• were terminated 
• attested and received an accommodation 
• attested and were denied an accommodation 
• were placed on unpaid leave and have not yet returned to work 
• were placed on unpaid leave but have since returned to work 
• retired early 
• sought sick leave as a result of the mandates  
• were coerced into taking a vaccine(s) to keep their job 

FedsForFreedom maintains that medical privacy, bodily autonomy and informed consent are inviolable fundamental rights. As a result of the government’s policy, public servants have suffered irreparable harms and seek to remedy these harms through legal recourse.  

If you, or someone you know, was employed by the Federal Government at the time the policy was introduced and felt harmed by the resulting mandates, please visit our website https://www.fedsforfreedom.ca/liberty-membership/ to learn more about joining our legal action. 

We will be accepting members who wish to join our legal action(s) until March 31, 2023.

You can also check us out on Facebook & Instagram @fedsforfreedom, or Twitter @Feds4FreedomCA.

FedsForFreedom

END PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

FEDS FOR FREEDOM

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

This notice is to inform the press and the public at large, that today the President, Secretary and Chief Human Resources Officer of the Treasury Board (the official employer of federal public servants) have been served with a Cease and Desist letter regarding the federal vaccination mandate for public servants.

Today, January 26th 2022, the lawyers for Feds For Freedom, a not-for-profit advocacy organization for public servants, served The Honorable Mona Fortier, Peter Wallace, Christine Donughue along with all Departmental Ministers of the Core Public Service Administration under the Treasury Board Secretariat. These documents put the individuals served on notice that the federal vaccine mandates are unjustifiable, unconstitutional and criminal in nature. Feds For Freedom maintains that bodily autonomy and informed consent, free of coercion, intimidation or bullying are fundamental rights that are inviolable. The consequences laid out by legal counsel include, but are not limited to:

• Numerous charter rights challenges;
• Legal action against the Government of Canada; and
• Applications seeking injunctive relief and punitive damages.

As federal public servants, we have had our livelihoods stripped from us; we have endured unprecedented amounts stress and hardships. We have been harassed, ridiculed, mocked and had hatred and violence incited against us. This type of abusive behavior cannot and will not be tolerated; we expect and request an expeditious response.

Thursday, October 28th, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDS FOR FREEDOM

RESPONSE TO: Riccardo Filippone, Executive Director of PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada):

On October 22, 2021 at 1:56 PM EDT, Riccardo wrote an internal email¹ to warn PSAC staff ​​​​​​of a peaceful protest that had been organized at PSAC National Headquarters in Ottawa for Monday, October 25^th, 2021 by its own members; an email that included several defamatory and false claims. 

This protest was organized as a result of PSAC’s lack of response to a group letter² sent to the union’s president, Chris Aylward, on October 18th, 2021. In this letter, representatives of Feds For Freedom requested a meeting with the union to discuss what actions, if any, were being planned to help members with respect to the Treasury Board policy on vaccination, that was hastily enacted³ by the government on October 6, 2021. 

Through the inaction taken since the mandates were announced, PSAC has sided with the employer and not with its own members who have expressed concerns with respect to a multitude of issues, including privacy and medical autonomy.

In his emailed warning to PSAC’s staff, Riccardo defamed Feds For Freedom, stating that the “…’information’ being circulated by this group is patently false.” He further stated that “…the group includes individuals who also espouse racist, sexist, anti-semitic and homophobic messages”. These accusations were not supported with proof. They are baseless, uninformed, and show that PSAC is fighting against its own members and spouting off rhetoric, instead of responding to the issues brought in a group letter² sent and signed by more than 1000 of their own members. 

Feds For Freedom is as diverse and multicultural as the public service itself, and does not support, condone, or have ever supported any type of such comments on any of its platforms. This sort of dishonesty and slander is dissappointing to see from our own union representatives. We are appalled at this blatant attempt to discredit thousands of due-paying members of the PSAC union – who hold valid and legitimate concerns about their privacy and rights arising from these policies – as some sort of alt-right, white nationalist movement. 

There is absolutely no evidence of any of these claims and they are clearly defamatory. Feds For Freedom is a support group created by members, for members, of the federal public service that are having their livelihoods threatened by the government’s vaccination policy. Feds For Freedom offers peer support and information to these members, as in many cases they have not received such support or meaningful guidance from their own union.

Members of Feds For Freedom, representing thousands of public servants nation-wide, sat peacefully outside of PSAC’s National Headquarters at 233 Gilmour Street for 3 days, from October 25th – October 27th. During this time, PSAC did not allow card carrying members to step foot inside the union hall. Deliveries were re-routed, and when a member did manage to enter the premises, they were told “You are not allowed to be inside the building.” This was communicated to us even though there was staff inside that could have answered the concerns of their members or have delivered a message about our meeting request. Email and telephone follow-ups were met with no response. On the third day the union went so far as to block the tinted front doors, so we were not even allowed to see inside of our own union hall. 

As of the time of this communication, Feds For Freedom has yet to receive a response from the union. We demand Riccardo Filippone retract his slanderous allegations and publicly issue an apology, as we continue to implore PSAC to reconsider its position and to grant the representatives of Feds For Freedom the meeting we have requested.

www.fedsforfreedom.ca

Contact@fedsforfreedom.ca For Comment.

1. Email from Riccardo Filippone, Executive Director of PSAC to building occupants of 233 Gilmour Street.

2. Letter sent from Feds For Freedom, on October 18th 2021 to PSAC President Chris Aylward with over 1000 signatures of support.

3. Statment from union about the policies implementation.

Feds For Freedom, an advocacy group representing thousands of federally regulated employees, has sent a collective letter signed by over 1200 to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (“PSAC”) union national leadership, requesting an urgent discussion regarding the violation of both workplace and human rights created by the Government of Canada imposed vaccine mandate.

Unfortunately, PSAC has resolutely ignored said letter and has dismissed the request of its members to uphold their rights, leading down a path towards the dereliction of their duties of fair representation.

Feds For Freedom is announcing that we will NOT be ignored nor dismissed. We are steadfast in our certainty that ours is the legally, ethically and morally sound position. We are steadfast in our certainty that the employer has no legal or moral right to threaten or enforce these mandates. We are also steadfast in our certainty that we deserve a public advocate. If PSAC will not step up, we will stand for ourselves.

We are alerting PSAC now that we will give them one more opportunity to begin a dialogue, and this opportunity will be one they will find much more difficult to ignore than our letter. After this point, we will consider them to be in dereliction of their duties, and will consider ourselves to be free of any obligation to follow the union process in dealing with the employer.

Beginning October 25th, Feds For Freedom members will be representing their fellow brothers and sisters with peaceful sit-in action at the PSAC Union Headquarters, located at 233 Gilmour Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

We hope that PSAC gives serious consideration to scheduling a meeting with us, and that PSAC’s leadership will consider the ramifications that a mass “opt-out” campaign might have. We await their response.

In solidarity,

Feds For Freedom

Thursday, Oct 21st, 2021

FEDS FOR FREEDOM

STATEMENT ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE VACCINE MANDATES AND UNION INACTION

Feds For Freedom, an advocacy group representing thousands of federally regulated employees, has extended an invitation to all major federal employee unions to enter urgent discussions with us. Letters of concern have been sent, signed by members of each respective union to union leaders. As an example, the letter sent to PSAC was signed by over 1,200 of our PSAC affiliated members, with more joining every day. 

Feds for Freedom is absolutely opposed to vaccine mandates – no matter the details of the policy – in principle. We believe in freedom of expression, open discussion and debate, that medical decisions ought to be examined without censorship or bias so that an individual can achieve informed consent; we believe that as every individual’s body and situation is different, allowing for government interjection into medical decisions between an individual and their health care provider sets a dangerous precedent; and we believe the right to medical privacy – and to be free from discrimination on that basis – is essential. Not only to us as a labour force, but to society as a whole. 

Let us be perfectly clear: We are pro-informed consent; we believe that science is a process that evolves. Science requires constant review and acceptance of new discoveries as they arise – and these discoveries must be explored, without censorship or silence of discourse, even if they challenge the current narrative; we are not “anti-vaxxers”, but a community of both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, seeking accuracy and truth in the collection and representation of data, so that everyone can make an accurate and informed decision for themselves; we are not opposed to vaccines in principle whatsoever, and most of us are fully vaccinated (aside from the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine); we are opposed to the loss of body autonomy and the dangers this sets as a precedent for both workers and the public at large, as well as the loss of decades of work and progress in the labour movement through the sitting government’s actions.

In addition to representing those who are concerned about these vaccines due to the lack of important long-term efficacy and safety data at this time (sources: 1,2,3,4); and due to the lack of open debate surrounding new discoveries, adverse events and methods surrounding data collection; we also represent those who have received the vaccine under duress, doing so only to be able to continue supporting their families and identity as a servant of the Canadian people. 

The mandates will have ripple-effects and unforeseen consequences – we can be certain of this. One need only keep a watchful eye to our neighbouring countries around the world to see the discordance this causes in society.

Feds for Freedom is not anti-science. We are pro-science and pro-open discussion and debate. Science meaning, arrival at data, theories and conclusions via the application of the scientific method and further verified through a peer-review process which replicates and verifies or invalidates conclusions arrived at through the same methodology – especially where new data is discovered as time goes on. 

We would argue that science is never settled as a rule. We would also argue that since the clinical trials on all the major available vaccines in Canada and the world are not still complete (sources: 5,6,7,8) science has not yet been given a chance to arrive at a conclusion with all the relevant data applied. 

We are particularly dismayed by the major federal employee unions and their complete inaction on this front. This is effectively volunteering the consent of their members. We certainly hope that they will accept our invitation to talk, and to move together in solidarity on this action.

We must stand together. We must be made whole. 

For more information on Feds for Freedom, we invite the press and public to visit our homepage at www.fedsforfreedom.ca

Media may email contact@fedsforfreedom.ca

Sources:

1: https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/regulatory-decision-summary-detailTwo.html?linkID=RDS00730

2: https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/regulatory-decision-summary-detailTwo.html?linkID=RDS00779

3: https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/regulatory-decision-summary-detailTwo.html?linkID=RDS00772

4: https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/regulatory-decision-summary-detailTwo.html?linkID=RDS00736

5. https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/summary-basis-decision-detailTwo.html?linkID=SBD00510

6. https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/summary-basis-decision-detailTwo.html?linkID=SBD00519

7. https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/summary-basis-decision-detailTwo.html?linkID=SBD00511

8. https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/summary-basis-decision-detailTwo.html?linkID=SBD00522