Anti-vax protester's 'race-based tirade' against security guard wasn't criminal, B.C. judge rules

A confrontation outside a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Kelowna, B.C., is seen on July 13, 2021. (Carli Berry/Infonews.ca)

A protester who unleashed a "race-based tirade" outside a vaccination clinic in B.C.'s Okanagan at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause a criminal disturbance, a judge has ruled.

Bruce Orydzuk was found not guilty in Kelowna provincial court last week.

The protester made the remarks on July 13, 2021, outside Trinity Baptist Church, which had been hosting a public vaccination clinic that was administering upwards of 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day.

The target was Anmol Singh, a security guard of South Asian descent.

The court heard Orydzuk, who was among a group of anti-vaccine protesters gathered at the location, repeatedly told Singh he's "not a Canadian" and should "go back to India."

Judge David Ruse found that the incident, while upsetting for several people who witnessed it, did not reach the level of criminality.

"The issue for this court is not whether the conduct of Mr. Orydzuk was obnoxious or deplorable," Ruse wrote in his decision, which was published online Monday.

"Although Mr. Orydzuk’s behaviour towards Mr. Singh was insulting and highly offensive, it did not result in an interference with ordinary and customary use of the premises by the public."

The protester was charged under section 175(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, which applies to anyone causing a disturbance in public by "fighting, screaming, shouting, swearing, singing or using insulting or obscene language," among other things.

The judge said he had "absolutely no hesitation" accepting Orydzuk's comments were insulting, but said there was insufficient evidence that his behaviour had caused what the law considers a criminal disturbance – which Ruse noted must go beyond "mere emotional upset."

The decision summarizes several previous cases that met the test, including a 2001 incident in which a driver had been berating a police officer during a traffic stop, causing a woman with a baby carriage to cross the street to avoid the commotion.

"The court convicted (the driver) on the basis that the lady with the baby carriage had her peaceful passage along a public sidewalk disturbed," Ruse noted.

But pinning those types of disturbances on a single protester during a group demonstration can be difficult to prove.

After the incident with Orydzuk, the court heard staff at the vaccination clinic were advised to remove tags from their vehicles identifying them as health workers, and that security was asked to escort employees from the premises at the end of the day.

Ruse found those decisions were mainly related to "security concerns related to actions of other protesters," some of whom were recorded looking at vehicles and licence plates belonging to nurses and other clinic staff.

There was also video of one bystander giving Orydzuk "the finger" and another shaking his head at him. A nurse who was eating lunch at a nearby picnic table during Orydzuk’s tirade testified that she was emotionally affected by the confrontation, but not to the degree that she couldn't keep working afterward.

Ruse found those were "insufficient interferences with the public's use of the space to find a conviction."

Despite finding Ordyzuk not guilty, the judge made a point of disputing allegations the protester made during his defence casting “aspersions” on the “ethical and professional conduct of the Crown.”

While Ruse did not summarize the defendant’s remarks, he wrote that – having presided over all eight days of evidence in the case and one pre-trial conference – the criticisms had “no merit.”