VANCOUVER, British Columbia, December 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A popular anthem singer for a Canadian professional hockey team was fired last Friday for singing the Canadian national anthem at a Christmas “freedom” rally event held in protest against COVID-19 lockdown measures.
“My decision to sing at the freedom event, is not as complicated as dealing with a novel virus, it is reasoned and found out of love for my fellow Canadians,” said Mark Donnelly at the B.C. Christmas Freedom Rally 2020 on Saturday.
Donnelly has been the pre-game anthem singer for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) since 2001 until his firing Friday. His website states: “As the Signature Performer of the Vancouver Canucks, Mark has won the hearts of hockey fans and all Canadians from coast to coast by holding the microphone to the crowd and encouraging them to sing along to his solid and unabashedly patriotic version of the Canadian national anthem.”
At the freedom rally, he mentioned he was concerned at the beginning of the pandemic and was willing to do his part to suppress the virus, however, this changed after prolonged lockdowns continued to drag on.
“What was originally sold as a 15-day hunkering-down sprint for the common good has turned into a 10-month marathon from hell, where the finish line is constantly being moved farther into the distance. There is no exit strategy, there is no defined rules of victory. As far as I know, there has been no overall cost-benefit analysis done on any of the protocol,” said Donnelly to the crowd at the rally.
Donnelly added that “Sports figures, entertainers, politicians, et cetera,” are allowed to stand for “anything” so long as it supports the “narrative.”
“You can support rioting, looting, destruction of livelihoods and reputation, but take a position against the narrative and you are worthy of exile or worse. As someone known for singing our great national anthem, I'm standing up against what I feel is tyranny, plain and simple,” said Donnelly.
Donnelly is a former opera singer and identities as pro-life. He has nine kids and directs the Schola Davidica & Chorus Faustinae at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) Holy Family Parish in Vancouver.
LifeSiteNews contacted Donnelly for comment on the matter but due to previous work commitments, he was unable to respond in time before this report was published. He has, however, promised to send us a reply when he is able.
Last Friday, the Vancouver Sun reported that Mark Donnelly was going to sing at the B.C. Christmas Freedom Rally 2020. The Sun’s original headline was “Canucks anthem singer Mark Donnelly to perform at anti-masker rally.”
Shortly after the report ran, owner of the Canucks Franceso Aquilini tweeted out that the newspaper should change the headline of their report to say that Donnelly was no longer working for the team.
“Hey @VancouverSun change the headline to ‘Former Canucks anthem singer.’ #wearamask,” wrote Aquilini on Twitter.
At the freedom rally, Donnelly mentioned that he was aware of his termination by the Canuck’s ownership, but as he does not use Twitter, he said he could not “confirm” at the time if this was true.
Donnelly’s firing was confirmed by a CBC reportwho said a Canucks spokesperson told them in an email that “You are safe to say his days are over.”
The NHL cut its season short for 2019-2020 and resumed playoffs in only a few hub cities without any fans. For the coming season, the NHL has yet to announce when it will resume play, and whether or not games will include fans.
British Columbia has banned all social gatherings as part of its COVID-19 measures and only allows gatherings of less than 50 people outdoors. They have also banned all in-person worship at churches.
The province's Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said in November that she has “no time for people who believe that wearing a mask somehow makes them ill or is a sign of lack of freedom,” or for those that oppose vaccines.
In October, Dr. Stephen Malthouse, who practices family medicine in British Columbia made headlines for writing to Dr. Henry to blast the government’s COVID-19 lockdown policy.
He also told LifeSiteNews recently that Canada’s low flu rates this year could be for a variety of reasons, but that to see such a drop in flu numbers from flu shots,” which he says at the very most are 60% effective, “seems unlikely.”
In his speech at the freedom rally, Donnelly mentioned Dr. Malthouse’s open letter to Dr. Henry and encouraged those in the crowd to read it.
Donnelly also touched on the “Godforsaken PCR tests” which have come into question by some as not being a reliable way to diagnose COVID-19.
“What about those cases, before COVID a case was someone who got sick, not simply having the virus,” said Donnelly to the crowd at the rally.
“Now every positive PCR test is a case, and if one person has multiple COVID tests that are positive that’s chalked up as multiple cases.”
Malthouse told LifeSiteNews of PCR tests that they are an “inaccurate” means of “diagnosing virus agents of infection” at this point since no one knows for sure what COVID-19 is or “is not.”
“Since the PCR test is completely inaccurate as a means of diagnosing virus agents of infection, we really do not know what is COVID-19 and what is not. There is a great overlap of symptom patterns with Covid and flu and influenza-like illnesses (parainfluenza viruses),” Malthouse told LifeSiteNews.
The province of British Columbia has a population of around 5.1 million people and as of today lists 9,050 active “cases” of COVID-19 with 492 deaths attributed to the virus, or just 0.0096 percent of the population.
Opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada has intensified over the past few weeks after most provinces introduced tighter restrictions due to an apparent rise in virus cases.
Rallies have been held all over the country, and recently saw Ontario Independent Member of Provincial Parliament Randy Hillier charged for organizingas well as attending an anti-lockdown protest.
Premier of Ontario Doug Ford said in Novemberthat he expects families to avoid “holiday parties or large family dinners” for 2020 in a politically correct announcement about “Holiday Season Safety” that did not mention Christmas at all.
Recently, Manitoba’s Premier Brian Pallister said that he is“the guy who’s stealing Christmas” to keep people in his province “safe” from COVID-19.
On December 3, the JCCF released a bombshell charter analysis called “Flying Blind,” which shows how the Canadian and provincial government’s own data indicates that COVID-19 lockdowns have caused more harm than the virus.
“Flying Blind explains how the risks posed by COVID-19 have been mischaracterized; governments have relied on speculation and exaggerated estimates to justify Charter-violating lockdown policies,” reads the analysis.