by: thia james
an uptick in the frequency of protests — namely anti-restriction rallies protesting covid-19 public health orders — is stretching saskatoon police resources.
as protests increase in number, the resources required to manage them safely is increasing as well, says police chief troy cooper.
“not every rally, awareness gathering or protest requires dedicated police resources, but where traffic control or public health enforcement is necessary we will be present. in cases where illegal activity or counter-protest is likely, we will take that into consideration as well when we develop our plans,” cooper said in a statement.
“often, we become aware of these events on short notice and they tend to take place on holidays and weekends. as a result, planning for sufficient staff can be a challenge since we exhaust available resources quickly.”
since the pandemic began there have been occasional weekend “freedom rallies” in downtown saskatoon.
under current public health orders, outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people. this will be expanded to 150 people on sunday.
as of friday, saskatoon police spokeswoman kelsie fraser said the service had issued 74 tickets since the start of the pandemic to people for violating public health orders and that number is expected to rise as more tickets are formally served. many tickets are the result of people’s participation in anti-restriction rallies. police have indicated at least 82 tickets are expected to be issued in connection with a single rally that occurred on may 9, though not all of those have been served.