Unvaccinated, unmasked woman wins face-off against border authorities
A video making its rounds across social media shows an unvaccinated, unmasked woman facing off against authorities at the U.S.-Canada border. Despite repeated requests and demands by officials that the woman wear a mask, she refuses to comply and crosses the border.
The video shows the woman pulling up next to a customs booth prior to entering Canada. The customs officer is masked and sitting alone in a booth. After exchanging brief pleasantries, the customs officer asks her to cover her face.
“Do you have a mask you can put on?” says the officer sitting in the booth.
“No,” the woman says simply.
“No?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t wear them.”
“Ok.”
The officer then proceeds to question the woman regarding her visit to the United States. The woman reveals that she is a citizen of both countries with a residence in Sarnia, Ontario. She had been in the United States for only a few hours for a hair appointment and to do some banking.
She is then asked by the officer if she has a COVID test, to which she replies that she does not. She is asked if she has a cough or difficulty breathing, which she says she does not.
“And not vaccinated, correct?” asks the officer after looking at her papers.
“Correct,” she says.
After some more basic customs-related questions, the woman is given a slip by the officer to present at the next station. The yellow slip shows that the officer has written, “No test/no AC/not vaxxed/no mask”.
At the next station, the woman presents the slip to another customs officer. Again, after a brief greeting, the officer asks her to wear a mask.
“Do you have a mask?” the officer asks.
“No.”
“No? Would you mind wearing one for me?”
“No, I don’t wear them.”
“Oh, ok, no problem.”
The officer then tells the woman that her customs declaration will be reviewed and asks her to step out of the vehicle.
Yet another black-clad customs officer confronts the woman regarding her face being uncovered.
“All those black masks are yours, yeah?” says the officer, pointing to the back seat. “Those are a lot of black masks.”
“Yeah.”
“So you don’t want to wear one, that’s what it is?”
“No, I needed them for the airport.”
The officer tells her that it will be a couple of minutes and begins to walk away but then turns back, seemingly unable to comprehend that someone would not wear a mask.
“I’m just trying to understand,” he says. “You’re wearing them at the airport, right?”
“Yep, to get on the airplane, yep.” she responds.
“But you don’t want to wear them here, so...”
“Yep.”
“And when you’re walking through the airport, do you wear them?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what’s the difference between the airport and here?”
The woman then goes on the offensive.
“Why is this relevant, though? I don’t understand why this is relevant.” she shoots back.
“I’m just curious,” says the officer. “I’m asking you a question.”
“Because they’re useless. I don’t have to wear a mask if I don’t want to.”
“Ok.”
“You know what I’m saying? So...”
“But at the airport you do,” the officer then rebounds back to his original question.
“Yeah, to get on the airplane, yeah,” she repeats.
The officer asks her to wait. The camera then shows the customs officers conferring with public health officials, dressed in red, who seem to be at a loss regarding an unmasked woman.
One of the public health officials then approaches the woman. After introducing herself as “Marissa”, the official asks the woman to put her phone down.
“So just a couple of questions for you,” the official says. “Can you put your phone down for me, please?”
“It’s my phone. I’m allowed to.”
“Really?”
“So, uh, I understand you’re coming in from the U.S. Do you have a pre-arrival test?”
“No.”
“Ok. Can you put a mask on for me please?”
“No. I don’t wear them.”
At this point, the official hesitates, seeming confused about what to do next.
“Uh...do you...have you filled out a [inaudible]?”
“No.”
“Ok. Alright, so...basically...are you vaccinated?”
“No.”
“Ok, so then you understand the requirements, you’ve been here before –”
“There are no requirements,” the woman says, cutting off the health official. “I’m a Canadian citizen. So that’s that. And I can leave right now if I want to.”
“Yeah. Absolutely.”
The woman begins to turn on the ignition.
“As you know, you are required to quarantine –” the official tries to continue.
“I don’t have to do anything, OK?” says the woman, raising her voice. “So please leave. Goodbye.”
The official walks away and the woman drives off.
The woman’s refusal to comply comes as Canada enters its third week of protests, with tens of thousands of Canadians rallying against COVID mandates.
