RAYCHYL WHYTE IS RAISING MONEY FOR CAFE — SUPPORT HER YEARLY WALK FOR FREEDOM
Raychyl Whyte is raising funds for CAFE on St. Patrick’s Day Wednesday March 17 will be Raychyl’s 15th annual 42 km trek from Toronto to Oakville, and she is pleased to raise funds for CAFE again this year.
The walk will commence at 9 AM at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday March 17 2021, and conclude sometime between approx. 4:15-4:50 PM at Mo’s Restaurant & Tavern in downtown Oakville, 234 Lakeshore Rd. E., where CAFE members are welcome to join in the celebration with Raychyl.
Hopefully the Covid restrictions won’t interfere too much.
~ Wear something green. ~ Our freedoms are under attack, so your help is more important than ever.
Please donate directly to CAFE. Mail your cheque to:
City looks at bolstering COVID-19 penalties amid weekly protests
[Apparently anti-free speech voices like Councillor Druh Farrell want more repression against freedom fighters trying to exercise their Charter right of freedom of assembly.]
Coun. Farrell said anti-COVID-19 restriction protesters have been ‘intimidating’ nearby businesses, and asked if limits would be placed on the illegal weekly demonstrations at city hall that have attracted several hundred peopleAuthor of the article:Bill KaufmannPublishing date:Dec 08, 2020 • Last Updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Hundreds of anti-mask protestors rally outside city hall in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK/POSTMEDIA
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Calgary city council voted Monday to consider increasing fines and to review its mask bylaw, which made wearing masks in public indoor places mandatory as of last Aug. 1.
The review includes the possibility of raising the current $50 fine, an amount Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said is insufficient.
“Those measures we put in two weeks ago look to be insufficient in bending the (infection) curve,” said Hinshaw.
Also Monday, Coun. Druh Farrell said anti-COVID-19 restriction protesters have been “intimidating” nearby businesses, and asked if limits would be placed on the illegal weekly demonstrations at city hall that have attracted several hundred people.
“I’ve been getting reports from businesses and some of the residents who live in the area that participants in these protests are going into shops, disrupting (them), in order to intimidate customers as well as staff,” Farrell told council.
Calling the demonstrations “plague-spreaders,” Farrell said the behaviour is harming businesses along Stephen Avenue which anti-restriction activists use as a marching route.
“This is happening frequently. Is there a plan to limit the protests and the damage they cause?” she said, adding she’d prefer a short, sharp so-called circuit breaker business lockdown to smother the virus.
Anti-mask protest at Calgary city hall on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Jim Wells/Postmedia
A city bylaw official said peace officers were monitoring the latest protest — as they have in the past — and tickets for those violating a provincial health order, limiting outdoor gatherings to no more than 10 people, are being prepared.
“We have a number of investigations pending from this week’s demonstrations and we anticipate laying more charges,” said Richard Hinse, director of Calgary Community Standards.
“If (businesses) feel threatened, we can get officers there to assist them.”
There will now be more bylaw personnel to do just that, as the city announced Monday its Level 2 Community Peace Officers have been given clearance by the province to enforce public health orders.
“This change means there are now more than 100 peace officers working alongside Calgary Police Service to support the City’s pandemic response in situations where individuals are in blatant violation of the Public Health Act and bylaws,” said Ryan Pleckaitis, Chief Bylaw Officer, Calgary Community Standards.
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Peace officers on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK/POSTMEDIA
The protesters contend city and provincial mask-wearing mandates and restrictions on gatherings and business operations violate civil liberties and harm livelihoods. Many of them also allege the impact of COVID-19 — which has led to hospitalizations in Alberta more than tripling in the past month — is vastly exaggerated and that measures to quell it are more damaging than the virus.
The legal group Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has filed a constitutional challenge to the pandemic restrictions in Alberta and several other provinces.
Its lawyers have said they’ll work to overturn those tickets, which have included penalties of $50 and $1,200 and have been handed out to at least six participants from a Nov. 28 demonstration.
Nenshi, however, condemned the demonstrations as dangerous, while the city and province grapple to contain the virus.
“You have every right to be an idiot but you don’t have the right to crash shopkeepers, scare away people from their stores at this time of year and to expose your children,” he said.
More protests by Walk for Freedom and other like-minded groups are planned for next Saturday.
