'Under attack': Canadian health-care workers call for more protection from harassment and threats

Antisemitism, racism, misogyny, unfounded character assassinations and disturbing threats of physical violence and even death.

Those are just some of the daily hate-filled messages sent to Canadian front-line health-care workers, public health advocates, academics and experts speaking out on the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines and against misinformation.

One health-care worker told CBC News under condition of anonymity that they received a suspicious package at their place of work that led to an evacuation.

Another discussed the debilitating mental health issues they developed as a direct result of the volume and intensity of personal attacks and the dozens of baseless professional complaints made against them.

When protesters stormed Canadian hospitals this summer to berate health-care workers and oppose vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions, widespread condemnation from politicians and the public was swift.

But a disturbing rise in aggressive online harassment of health-care workers across Canada has been largely met with inaction, prompting calls for governments, regulators and social media companies to do more to protect those on the front lines.

"We often like to think that we're not like our neighbours to the south," said Dr. Naheed Dosani, a physician and health-justice advocate in Toronto. "But this pandemic has shown that there's a lot of hate in this country."

Those who choose to speak up in the media, online or in public forums say they are being specifically targeted by anti-vaxxers and other online attackers in order to threaten, intimidate and ultimately silence them.

Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a family physician in Ottawa, wrote in the Globe and Mail this week about how she received an antisemitic death threat through a formal complaint to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario — showing the brazenness of the attackers.

"It's a death threat — and if we don't talk about it, then it becomes this hidden thing that I have to deal with myself," she said. "I am not the problem because I'm speaking out. The problem is that somebody out there thinks that it is something that they can get away with."

Kaplan-Myrth says she and her colleagues feel "under attack" and unprotected, even though they've worked hard to protect those in the community they serve by promoting public health guidance and administering COVID-19 vaccines.

"I work a 12-hour day, and then at the end of the day I have to wait for my husband to come pick me up," she said. "Because it's no longer safe for me to walk home on my own."

Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, says he's faced credible death threats investigated by the police, constant antisemitism and orchestrated attacks on social media and online.

"Those things take their toll and can make it harder to provide care the way that we want to because our minds are under so much tension and pressure," he said.