Although pandemic mandates captured most citizens, one Saskatchewan grandmother said she “would not put up with crap” and no one could scare her into doing so..In an interview, Swift Current’s Alice Boux told the Western Standard how she shopped without a mask, kept her mom from isolation and found a freedom-loving church for refusing to bow..Boux said her resolve started to build shortly after the pandemic began..The daughter she gave birth to at the age of 45 had become a Grade 12 student in tears. School closures meant the end of classes and no grad, but at least she had time to pick up more work hours at Safeway..“They didn't care about a 17-year-old girl being exposed to how many people per day in the busiest grocery store in our city, but everybody else better lock down. That was my first indication, something's fishy,” Boux recalled..Boux decided her daughter’s grad would remain “special” and organized a private ceremony..“The teacher came to hand out the diploma in our backyard. They originally told us to hand it over on a hockey stick. And I said, ‘Well, you're coming into a backyard full of people…Do you think the hockey stick can keep you safe?’.“We have pictures of her giving the diploma to our daughter. They knew by then probably already that I wasn't gonna put up with crap.”.Aline said her mom, 93 at the time, “had the fear of God put in there that she's gonna die if she leaves her apartment in Medicine Hat.” Even so, she agreed to come for grad..“She was afraid to hug her own family. As the day progressed, she realized, none of us are sick. The air is beautiful. It's a lovely day. She actually sat in our backyard and said, ‘Well, if the Good Lord wants to take me out by giving me COVID so be it. I want to be with my family, and I'm going to hug them.’ And then she gave everybody hugs.”.The elderly lady felt lonely when her care facility kept residents isolated, but Boux’s husband found a way around that..“He climbed her balcony and visited with her outside her balcony because the building would have never let him in. And then he's on the phone with me so that we could talk to her. She was giggling in a way because she felt like she was breaking the rules. But she was so excited. She hadn't seen her kids for a while,” she recalled..Public health orders weren’t going to keep the family away at Thanksgiving or Christmas, either. Eleven gathered for “a great time” together in December 2020, but only after Boux allayed her children’s fears of fines and police..“I don’t care…Do you honestly think they’ve nothing better to do than go door to door to see how many people you have in your house?” she asked them..“Don't you worry about nothing. And guess what? They're gonna have to deal with Mama. You guys go hide in the basement. I'll tell them what for. They're not coming in our house for starters. I'm not scared of the police officers. I'm not scared of our mayor. I'm not scared of our premier.”.After waiting more than 18 months, Boux had surgery in Feb. 2021 in Regina. On the pre-op phone call, she said, “I will not do a PCR test. And I will not do a vaccine even though I'm not eligible yet. I'm not quite old enough.” She was a little surprised when hospital staff told her that was fine..“There were very, very few patients. It wasn't like a pandemic. There was nobody there except security guards,” she recalled..The Bouxs never did get the jab..“I knew better. We were not taking it. In the meantime, we're going to all these freedom things in our city and being exposed to probably 100 to 500 people at a time. Nobody's sick.”.Their decision kept one son away at Christmas in 2021, Boux recalled. She told her progeny in Victoria, BC, the vaccine was “an experiment” and “not safe.”.“[He said,] ‘Oh, for Pete's sakes, Mom, hundreds of people have taken it. What is the matter with you? You are a selfish, self-centered, idiot conspiracy theory theorist, and you won't get vaxxed. Therefore you will not see your grandson because he's too young to get vaxxed and you guys might kill him.”.The son said he would not bring his boy even in summer unless the couple got vaccinated. Eventually he backed down and brought his boy, now 12, for a four-day stay this summer. Boux said this meant more to her “than anything else in the world.” Neither side brought up vaccination..“Now my grandson is old enough. He's since had his COVID shot, so it was safe to come home. It didn't matter if we're no good as long as he is,” she said..“They came home, we hugged, we hung out. We did all kinds of things like we used to do. It's almost like the last three, four years didn't really happen. The one thing about me maybe that's saved our relationship is that I am an unconditionally loving mom.”.Boux shopped without a mask throughout the pandemic thanks to an exemption letter from a naturopath in another city..“I have anxiety…I can't breathe when my face is covered, and I feel like I'm being suffocated. And so he wrote in a medical term something to that effect. And he dated it and signed it and I just carried it with me in my wallet,” she said..Armed with the exemption, Boux shopped maskless everywhere, except Canadian Tire, where she was “kicked out” by a female employee who “went psycho.” She also endured turbulence at her credit union..“They sent out this tall young kid to attack me. I'm in a lineup,” she recalled..“I said, ‘I don't have to wear a mask, I have an exemption.’ .“‘Oh, you still have to wear one to protect everybody else.’.“And I'm like, ‘Well, they're all wearing one. Does their mask not work?’.“And he said, ‘You have to wear a mask or you have to leave.’.“I said, ’No, I do not have to leave. And I will not wear a mask. I have an exemption.’ They didn't know what that was. They never heard of it. And I said, ‘You know what, how about you call the cops, and you call SHA [Sask Health Authority]. In the meantime, I'm just about next in line, I'll have my business done by then.’".“‘Well, we don't want to do that…You know what, I have to give you a mask.’.“I'm like, ‘Oh, you can give me one. I'm not wearing it.’ I dangled it in front of my face, set it down, did my business and walked out. I phoned the manager the next working day, and I said, ‘Do you discriminate against people?’.“‘Absolutely not.’.“I said, ‘Well, I was discriminated against in front of others, and I just want you to know.’”.Boux explained that she was making a major deposit and needed a receipt, which meant the night deposit or ATM was not sufficient..“‘No,’ I said, ‘I go into the building and I own shares like everybody else. I expect to be treated with respect.’ .“And she said, ‘Okay, we'll put a little note by your name and you will never be asked again.’”.Boux had stumbled onto a winning tactic. “Alrighty then; that's the word you need to use: discrimination.'” The approach also helped at a local pharmacy–-eventually..“They asked me to leave and stand in the little door outside, and they would bring the things to me. And the next day I phoned their manager, and I said, 'Do you discriminate at your store?'.“'Absolutely not.'.“I said, ‘Well, I was discriminated against. They put a note by my name. And they said, ‘You come in and talk to me, and we will [serve you inside] from now on. You just do what you’ve got to do.”.When Boux bought boots at a Mark’s store, her naked face inspired someone else..“I walked in like I owned the place, no mask. And then they sent this employee behind me to ask me to wear a mask. And I nicely, politely said, ‘I have a mask exemption. And just so you know, you're not allowed to ask to see it. It's illegal.’.“'Oh, okay [he said]. No problem. And is there anything I can help you with?' .Boux followed the employee buying Christmas gifts for her husband. Towards the end, a fellow shopper ran up to her..“She's like, ‘Are you with that freedom group? Are you one of them freedom people?’.“‘Yes, I am.’ .“‘Oh. Well how do you not wear a mask?.‘I said, ‘You just don't wear one. Just tell him you can't wear one and you have an exemption…They can't ask to see.’ She ripped her mask off, goes and pays for her stuff, waves at me and says, ‘Thank you!’ and walks out.”.However, what was inspiration to some was repugnant to others...“I was told I should get run over on the street for not wearing a mask–by a relative. She said it as a public comment on a post. I blocked her.”.Boux also faced scrutiny at church..“Our church wanted to see my mask exemption. And what I felt was that they were calling me a liar,” she recalled..“We were trying to find a church that had stood up for freedom and there really wasn't any.”.The search ended when a friend told her Art Pawlowski was visiting Victory Church to preach one Sunday..“His sermon was amazing. And his main thing was, get off the fence, pick a side, and stick to it and stand up for it,” she recalled..“The churches should have been the first to stand for freedom of religion, freedom to gather, freedom to worship, freedom to bury your dead, and to save souls. There [were] souls that were desperate and needed help, and they had nowhere to go..“I was so disappointed. But then I found out that Victory had remained open. They just kind of snuck people in and did their thing, and if you need help, we're here for you. That's now my church because they stood up.”.Boux laments that small businesses in her community of 18,000 did not open in solidarity after the initial two-week lockdowns ended..“If they had stood up and said, ‘Sorry, we're opening, whoever is scared to come in can stay home. The rest of the world is free to go.’ And had the whole city stood up, we wouldn't have lost…nine or ten[businesses…It's never been the same. And we've been ostracized for being freedom people,” she said..“If you have to show any kind of a passport to get into some place, you are not free. You think you're free, but you actually complied to be free. And that's not good.”.Boux recently sold raffle tickets as a fundraiser for local trucker Chris Barber as he goes to Ottawa for trial in September. She says the freedom convoy leader “woke up” some Canadians “two years too late.” Still, she remains “blown away” how some Swift Current residents don’t even know who he is..The pandemic itself woke Boux up, the one aspect she is thankful for..“It exposed things, how evil and corrupt the government truly is. The more you dig, the more you find, and it's just one thing after another. COVID is nothing compared to what they're doing on this planet,” she said..“They're still hard at it. And, if COVID wouldn't have happened, we'd still be blind. But that was the test run. Let's see who complies, right?”
