Fines issued in Manitoba as more than 100 protesters gather in Steinbach to protest COVID-19 restrictions

November 15, 2020 in News by RBN Staff

source: www.cbc.ca
by Nicholas Frew · CBC News

Protest comes on same day province reports highest single-day increase in COVID-19 deaths

A rally against public health measures started off peacefully Saturday in Steinbach Manitoba but ended with tensions flaring. 2:11

Less than an hour after Manitoba announced its highest single-day jump in COVID-19 deaths, dozens of people gathered in Steinbach to protest heightened public health restrictions implemented in Manitoba this week.

More than 100 people, including children, gathered Saturday afternoon in Steinbach, a city located roughly 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, to protest against additional restrictions that came into effect on Thursday. The entire province is now in the red, or critical, level on the province’s pandemic response system.

Eva Enns, 21, participated in Saturday’s protest because she’s concerned the government is overreaching with its emergency powers by separating friends and family.

“I can’t get together with my friends like I used to,” said Enns, who lives out in the country. “It’s depressing.

“I’m not mad or angry… I just feel the measures that we’re taking aren’t right.”

Protesters were observed not practising physical distancing, or wearing protective masks. Some protesters wore other face coverings that obscured their faces, such as a Guy Fawkes mask, popularized by the film V for Vendetta.

WATCH | Protesters shout profanities at enforcement officers:

Some protesters could be heard cursing at enforcement officers issuing fines to people who broke public health rules. 0:26

Shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday, provincial environment and health officers who were in attendance started issuing fines to some of the people participating in the protest. Some protesters, in turn, could be heard shouting profanities at the officers.

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