Five charged in Calgary as police boost response to anti-lockdown rallies

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A weekend anti-lockdown protest in Calgary ended with five people facing criminal charges and others getting tickets for violating public-health orders as the city’s police force takes a more aggressive approach to the rallies.

There have been small protests in Calgary opposing masks and other public-health measures throughout the pandemic, but they have been growing in size and frequency after recent provincial orders that have shut down businesses, required masks, cancelled classes and banned gatherings of any kind.

Until now, the police have taken a largely hands-off approach, only recently issuing tickets to organizers. The force said last week that officers would take a forceful tack if the rallies continued.

On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in front of City Hall to hear speakers opposing lockdown orders, masks and vaccines before the group set off on a march through downtown streets. There was a visible police presence throughout the rally and video from the event showed officers wrestling several protesters to the ground.

Police Chief Mark Neufeld said five people face criminal charges, including assaulting a police officer, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest. Other protesters were issued tickets for violating public-health orders, which prohibit such mass gatherings. Those orders also require masks and physical distancing. The force didn’t have an exact number for the Saturday rally but said 30 tickets have been issued in the past week, including at the protest.

Chief Neufeld said the force hoped the previous public-health order tickets, which carry fines of $1,200, would be enough to deter the rallies, but that did not work.

“There was an expansion of the enforcement to include others who maybe were repeat people who were attending the rallies or perhaps individuals who are a little bit difficult to deal with,” he said during a news conference on Monday.

“It was targeting individuals who had been identified for enforcement [in order] to broaden it out and increase the deterrent effect.”

Chief Neufeld said rallies such as the one on the weekend are clearly against the public-health orders and that the force intended to enforce the law. He said it can be difficult to do that in a way that keeps both the public and officers safe when it involves such a large crowd.

“We’re trying to re-enforce the message to the people who are legitimately wanting to express their rights that this is temporary,” he said.

There have been similar rallies in cities across the country, including in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

In Montreal, police said Monday that they issued $400,000 worth of tickets Sunday at an anti-lockdown demonstration outside the Quebec Premier’s office.

Constable Julien Lévesque said police handed out 269 fines of $1,546 each to protesters who had allegedly broken public-health rules including by not wearing a mask.

Lockdown opponents held a rally in Toronto on Sunday, where police issued a summons to an organizer under the province’s Reopening Ontario Act, which bans gatherings of more than 10 people.

The events in Alberta, which have also included rallies at the provincial legislature in Edmonton and other communities such as Lethbridge, have been condemned by Premier Jason Kenney.

The Premier has urged the protesters to stop and called it irresponsible to gather in large numbers in the middle of the pandemic.

Alberta’s public-health orders carry penalties of up to $1,200, though for serious offences courts can increase those penalties to $100,000.

With a report from The Canadian Press

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