WATCH: Charges laid in pair of high profile COVID-19 protests

People have the fundamental right to protest in Canada.

But top brass at the Kelowna RCMP say that right is not absolute.

The comments from Insp. Adam MacIntosh come as charges were finally handed out for two high profile COVID-19 related protests in Kelowna last year that drew national attention.

Linda Denise Jackson has been charged after she and several others interrupted a Remembrance Day service at the Kelowna Cenotaph in City Park.

She was charged Tuesday with disturbing the order or solemnity of meeting met for religious worship or for a moral, social, or benevolent purpose. The crime does not carry jail time, just a fine. Jackson is scheduled to appear in provincial court on May 19.

The charge is rare, MacIntosh said, admitting he’s never personally seen it levied against someone.

Bruce Orydzuk has been charged in connection to a tirade outside a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on July 13, 2021. He faces a charge of causing a disturbance. It, too, is only punishable by fine.

Video shared widely online shows Orydzuk hurling comments towards a South Asian security guard. The guard was trying to move the protesters who were blocking access to the clinic at Trinity Church.

Asked why the incident is not being pursued as a hate crime, MacIntosh directed questions towards the B.C. Prosecution Service. All he would say is that officers forwarded along the evidence from the event and lawyers decide what charges are laid.

“It was difficult to watch, given the circumstances and things being said,” he added. “But we do live in a free country and people can offer their opinions and thoughts and we do have legislation around that. It doesn’t mean that something offensive is automatically hate speech.”

Orydzuk has also been charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in connection with comments he’s alleged to have made towards a Global News reporter on Aug. 26.