Convoys against COVID-19 mandates, health measures plan to protest at Sask. Legislative Building Saturday
CBC
Several convoys are expected to set up camp at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building early Saturday afternoon, the day after a large winter festival is set to kick off in Regina.
The protest is organized by a different group than the one behind a solidarity rally on Jan. 29 that supported the cross-Canada protest calling for an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
This week's organizers say they plan to surround the Legislative Building with trucks and stay in the area until all public health restrictions in Saskatchewan are lifted.
The premier has already promised to lift all restrictions soon.
In a news release on Friday, the Provincial Capital Commission, which oversees the Legislative grounds, said that to ensure the safety of all pedestrians visiting the nearby Frost Regina Festival hub in Wascana Park, the Legislative Building or the streets surrounding the area, barricades would be installed and all streets will be exclusively for pedestrians.
As of Friday afternoon, cement barricades blocked vehicles from accessing the Legislative Building. But an organizer for the convoy says that won't stop protesters from occupying the area.
"Barricades won't stop the revolution. Still tons of concrete to park on in the fine city of Regina. See you tomorrow, Patriots!" wrote organizer Tamara Lavoie, an anti-vaccine and anti-mandate figure in Saskatchewan, on Facebook Friday afternoon.
In a Facebook Live earlier this week, Lavoie said, "Nobody's going anywhere until this is over."
"If you're not prepared to come down to the Legislature and plant your ass there and stay with them, then maybe this isn't the movement for you."
In another video posted to her Facebook on Thursday, Lavoie said, "It's not just about getting rid of the mandates ... [it's about] the masks, the vax pass, all the other nonsense, the testing."
Lavoie called for people who lost their jobs due to proof of vaccine mandates to get them back, and for schools to abolish any COVID-19 rules. She also shared debunked conspiracy theories about the pandemic and vaccines.
Lavoie has been a vocal PPC supporter and frequently participated in protests against vaccine and COVID-19 mandates, including at the Regina General Hospital.
Meanwhile, due to "a security risk," access to the Saskatchewan Legislative Building is temporarily suspended for all visitors as of Friday. All tours, education events and public events in the building are cancelled until further notice, according to the Legislative Building's website.
The Regina Police Service (RPS) told CBC it has not been in communication with the organizers of the convoy protest.
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