Demonstrators in Regina demand province implement restrictions as COVID-19 cases soar
Growing calls for action to combat rising COVID-19 cases reached the Saskatchewan Legislative Building Thursday as protestors gathered to demand the government bring back public health measures.
The demonstrators met to urge Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman to implement measures to reduce the growing strain COVID-19 is having on the province’s healthcare system and to protect children who are not able to get vaccinated.
Saskatchewan currently has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases among provinces over the last 7 days, recording 218 cases per 100,000 people. Alberta is in second place with 203, while Ontario is third with 53, according to Health Canada.
The province’s seven day average of daily new COVID-19 cases is 364, or 30.2 per 100,000 population. The daily average is at the highest mark recorded throughout the pandemic – and has been rising steadily since the beginning of August.
As of Thursday, 184 people are in hospital related to COVID-19, including 32 patients in intensive care.
“Despite the highest rate of cases in Canada, our government is doing nothing. It’s just reckless, people are dying, our hospitals are filling up, our healthcare workers are totally burned out. So (this) was just a way for people to come together as one voice and say enough,” said co-organizer Donna Pasiechnik.
The protestors were met by counter-demonstrators who carried signs with anti-vaccine and anti-public health measure messages. Officers from the Regina Police Service briefly showed up, but protests remained peaceful.
Counter-demonstrators carried signs with anti-vaccine and anti-public health measure messages. (Taylor Rattray/CTV News)
The original group said they just want the government to address the fourth wave.
Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili attended the rally. He also held a news conference on Thursday afternoon where he asked the government to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all provincial civil servants and school staff.
“We need to bring in appropriate incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated, bring in mandates for public events,” said Meili.
CTV News reached out to the province for an interview regarding the protest, but was told no one was available.
On Wednesday, the province issued a statement saying the government continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation and the premier will have more to say in the “coming days.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.