Dear Mr. Premier, Dr. Strang,

You are no doubt aware of the detrimental effects that vaccine mandates have caused to thousands of Nova Scotians. The consequences extend far beyond loss of income (and loss of taxpayer dollars, mind you).

The irony of being a public servant and receiving a package in the mail from the "new" Office of Workplace Mental Health while the clock was ticking on submitting private health information in order to keep my job was not lost on me. The package has sat on top of my refrigerator since October. Now a dusty reminder that I could "reach out to someone confidentially about [my] work environment and talk about its impact on [my] mental health". The right-hand side of the letterhead has the word "care" written in twenty-five languages, most of which I don't recognize. No doubt, a gesture of inclusiveness. At one point, I would have appreciated this kind of gesture, but in light of the coercion and iron fists brought down unlawfully on citizens of this province by your government, I look at this letterhead and only feel the emptiness of the gesture. What kind of government would proudly introduce a mental health office in nearly the same breath that it introduced the attestation form that required an employee to show private health information to prove compliance with a vaccination order? What kind of government wants to be seen as caring for its citizens, and yet only cares for those who comply with a vaccination order?

I could reference innumerable statistics and scientific studies from Canadian doctors and others from around the world as a basis for why the vaccination mandates are ineffective. Instead, I'll share my own experience with you.

Just before Christmas I attended an all-day gathering with a group of twelve women who meet monthly as part of a mentorship program. Half of our group are vaccinated, the other half are not. Within 48 hours of our gathering, many of us started to have flu-like symptoms. Some of us took rapid or PCR tests that came back positive. I personally had a fever of 38-39 for two days, a few days later I lost my sense of smell and taste. I took two rapid tests, both were positive.

Do you know how many of us fell ill? 100% of us. Did those of us who were vaccinated experience milder symptoms than those of us who were unvaccinated? No. Was anyone hospitalized? No. Were we pointing fingers trying to find the source of the illness? No. Were we driving ourselves mad with the fear narrative that many have submitted to, the one that wishes to divide us into two camps and make one group feel morally superior? Absolutely not.

For all the effort that the Province of Nova Scotia has taken to create and instill this divide, the point that I wish to make is that the mandates as I and many others have experienced them are proving fruitless. If 100% of the population are still susceptible to spread an illness, and 100% of the population are still susceptible to becoming ill, then you ought to deduce that the mandates are 100% ineffective. Not to mention unlawful, as I'm sure you're well aware.

As a resident of Nova Scotia and as a public servant (albeit one who is currently on unpaid administrative leave for not submitting private health information as a condition of employment), I ask that you do the right thing for the mental health of all Nova Scotians and remove the vaccination mandate for all employees.

Sincerely,

RS