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Feelings mixed at public-health protests

St. Albert resident Cecil Chabot said Saturday’s anti-mandate protest at the Alberta Legislature might be the last one he attends.
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St. Albert resident Cecil Chabot said he isn't anti-vaccine or anti-mandate, but he does have questions and concerns about the vaccine. Chabot was at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Saturday partaking in the demonstration. JESSICA NELSON/St. Albert Gazette

St. Albert resident Cecil Chabot said Saturday’s anti-mandate protest at the Alberta Legislature might be the last one he attends.

“We're pretty sure that this will be the last one because after March 1, theoretically. The reasons for us being here are not zero, but they're less,” he said.

On Feb. 26, Premier Jason Kenney announced phase two of the province's back-to-normal plan, which saw most COVID-19 public-health restrictions lifted on March 1.

“All signs here and across the world suggest that the worst of COVID-19 is behind us,” said Kenney during a press conference.

Phase two removed all remaining school requirements, youth health screening for sports and entertainment activities, capacity limits on large and entertainment venues, as well as indoor and outdoor social gatherings.

The mandatory work-from-home order is lifted and provincial mask mandates are lifted except in high-risk settings, public transit, Alberta Health Services-operated and contracted facilities, and all continuing-care settings.

Kenney said hospitalizations in the province continue to decline and overall transmission in the province is also declining despite schools resuming in-class learning six weeks ago and all restrictions on kids being lifted on Feb. 8.

“I think we can move forward with confidence based on not only our experience here, but around the world,” said Kenney.

Despite the announcement, protests were held at the Legislature building in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.

A social media post by the Edmonton Police Service said they estimated 500 pedestrians and 225 vehicles participated in the demonstrations on Feb. 26.

Jana Princ, a Parkland County resident who attended the protest, said she will be back to protest in the coming weeks, “until I see the politicians that brought us to this mess are gone ... federal and provincial. I will be coming back, and I will be spreading the word. I will be inspiring people who are willing to see what is happening with us,” she said.

Princ said friends and family members have been impacted by the health mandates and there should have been a choice not to partake in what she calls an experiment.

As for what Princ thinks of Kenney lifting public-health mandates in the province, she is skeptical.

“I don't believe him. It's a tactic from him. He was sitting comfortable for two years bringing those restrictions to us, taking the jobs from people. He never blinked an eye firing the nurses, healthy people.” she said.

A few blocks north of the Legislature at Beaver Hills House Park, a counter-protest was taking place. Emma Jackson, media liaison for We Keep Us Safe, said the event was planned to reclaim the downtown space.

“We've seen the convoy come into downtown Edmonton for almost a month now. It's really created an environment where people don't feel safe coming into downtown. And so, for us, it was about reclaiming the public space,” she said.

The event featured workshops on how to administer Naloxone and also how to engage in direct conversations with friends and family members who were sympathetic to the convoy. Around 300 to 400 people came to the park throughout the day.

“So [the event is about] really being able to hear people's grievances and understand where they're coming from and seeing that as a really important way of engaging them,” said Jackson.

Jackson said she is concerned about restrictions being lifted too soon, as many of the people who will be most impacted by the restrictions being lifted, such as nurses, doctors, and front-line service workers, are warning that it is too soon for whole-scale lifting of restrictions.

“As we lift restrictions, it’s crucial that we break away from a mandates versus anti-mandates binary, and instead look more wholistically at what measures will keep our communities safe,” she said.

Jackson said if the anti-mandate convoy demonstrations continue, they will likely have more events, but in a different form.

“I think ultimately, wherever and whenever the freedom convoy shows up, there will be Edmontonians that are willing to show up and be an oppositional force"

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