Rally decries pandemic restrictions from steps of city hall By: Jordan Ross
People fed up with Manitoba’s coronavirus restrictions gathered outside Steinbach City Hall Saturday for a two-hour rally that began with upbeat music and ended with fines.
People fed up with Manitoba’s coronavirus restrictions gathered outside Steinbach City Hall Saturday for a two-hour rally that began with upbeat music and ended with fines.
The event, organized online, was the second Hugs Over Masks protest held in Steinbach in the past two months.
GREG VANDERMEULEN
An organizer who only identified herself as Sharon said the event was planned to to protest government restrictions and the loss of civil liberties during the pandemic.
Supporters of the Hugs Over Masks campaign in Steinbach.
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Streets were blocked off around Steinbach’s city hall Saturday afternoon for a protest planned by the Hugs Over Masks organization.
RCMP say they issued ten tickets for Saturday s event and two for previous events. Two attendees were ticketed as they were leaving partway through the protest while the other fines were handed out by police and enforcement officers after the speeches ended just after 4 p.m.
RCMP expect to deliver more fines as they continue to identify people from the event.
Much of the crowd that gathered at 225 Reimer Ave. hung back on the street rather than gathering near City Hall. The crowd size ranged from approximately 50 to 100 participants at its peak.
As protesters from the group Hugs Over Masks gathered on Saturday, Steinbach’s mayor begged them to stop, saying they’re jeopardizing the Manitoba city’s chances of reopening businesses.
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Manitoba public health officials reported 180 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday as well as an outbreak in a hospital in a community in northern Manitoba which has seen a massive spike in new cases recently. The total number of lab-confirmed cases is now 27,322.
The Northern health region continues to be hard hit by the virus, including in Lynn Lake, Thompson and Garden Hill First Nation, leading to a disproportionate number of cases relative to population size.
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Gloria Froese knows that her 17-year-old self would have been front and centre at anti-mask protests.
Gloria Froese knows that her 17-year-old self would have been front and centre at anti-mask protests.
Two decades after Froese left the Church of God Restoration, whose pastors and members have attended such protests in Manitoba, she says the church s real goal is to recruit members and retain its current flock.
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Winkler may be known for farmer sausage, its large Mennonite population, and being the largest city in the Pembina Valley.