People who have never been inside market to protest that market won’t let them inside

Fredericton — A group of antivaxxers have decided to take their voices somewhere that they believe will be heard and make a big difference in their cause…the Boyce Farmers Market on Saturday morning.

The market is asking for proof of vaccination to be allowed inside the crowded building complex. Anyone can still shop at the dozens of outdoor stalls selling an array of foods, crafts and other goods. The antivaxxers have rallied together with the plan to prevent shoppers from entering the buildings and supporting the businesses operating inside.

Calling it “Operation Boyce,” the growing group of unvaccinated people plan to bring their homemade Bristol board yellow stars (yes, those yellow stars, representing the star of David that marked Jews during the Holocaust) bearing slogans like, “No VPass No Food” or simply “Unvaccinated.”

We messaged a few of the protest instigators on Facebook, which is where they spend most of their days since being laid off from their jobs for refusing to get “the jab.”

“I just heard that they sell vegetables and bread and meat,” said Barb Randall. “These are essentials! No, I’ve never stepped foot in there — I get all my groceries at Walmart, and I don’t like fresh stuff — but now that I can’t go, I really wanna!

“We’ve been muzzled long enough!” she added, referring to masks that even two-year-olds can wear without complaint.

“I shop at Costco pretty much exclusively,” said Jerry Allen. “Sometimes Sobeys. Rumours were going around that grocery stores were going to ask for vax passes, which made me really mad! So when that didn’t happen, I still had all this angry energy that I had to take out on someone. Why not these small market vendors? They’re probably just as bad as anyone else. Why shouldn’t they suffer too?”

Vendors have expressed sincere concern that this stunt will cost them much-needed cash on what would normally be one of the busiest Saturdays of the year.

“I don’t know how we can bounce back from this,” said Linda Horton, who works at one of the cheese stands. “We need those Christmas sales. I have to pay my stall fee regardless. Do these people think they’re sticking it to the government? And do they legitimately think they can’t buy food at a million other places in town, and even right outside? The stupidity and malice is truly alarming.”

One older man, Ken Ingersoll, seemed livid that the market exists at all, saying in multiple comments that that valuable downtown space should be used for more upscale condos — not a money-sucking market that “no one wants.”

“I am furious!” he told our reporter. “I’ve never been to that market, I won’t wear a mask and won’t get the jab — who knows what’s in it?! So I haven’t stepped outside since this ‘plan-demic’ began.”

We asked what he hoped would come of this protest.

“I just hope everyone ends up stuck at home as miserable as I am. Then I can die happy.”