{"id":4569,"date":"2020-10-03T04:20:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T08:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4569"},"modified":"2020-10-03T04:20:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T08:20:48","slug":"yahoonation-defies-doug-fords-restrictions-holds-what-could-be-canadas-largest-anti-lockdown-protest-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4569","title":{"rendered":"#YahooNation defies Doug Ford&#8217;s restrictions; holds what could be Canada&#8217;s largest anti-lockdown protest yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#YahooNation defies Doug Ford&#8217;s restrictions; holds what could be Canada&#8217;s largest anti-lockdown protest yet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rebelnews.com\/journalist_david_menzies\">David Menzies<\/a><\/li><li>|<\/li><li>October 02, 2020<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><ins><\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organizers were threatened with fines ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Participants were threatened with fines of $880. So, what did the rank and file of #YahooNation do on Saturday?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, they gathered in the hundreds at Toronto\u2019s Yonge-Dundas Square for a protest rally to vent about mandatory mask regulations and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ontario.ca\/en\/release\/58548\/new-public-health-measures-implemented-provincewide-to-keep-ontarians-safe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new clampdowns<\/a>&nbsp;on the provincial economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what did law enforcement do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Far from ticketing the masses, police provided these folks with an escort so they could march up Yonge Street to the Yorkville area and then back to Yonge-Dundas Square!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surely this was total humiliation for Ontario Premier Doug \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/politics\/provincial\/2020\/09\/19\/the-wild-parties-are-over-says-premier-doug-ford-as-limits-on-social-gatherings-are-extended-across-the-province.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The party\u2019s over<\/a>\u201d Ford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Premier Ford had earlier warned that given the spike in positive Wuhan virus tests, there would be clampdowns and serious fines for violators to combat that much-feared \u201csecond wave\u201d of the pandemic. Thus, indoor gatherings are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/7345932\/coronavirus-ontario-gathering-restrictions-expanded\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">now limited<\/a>&nbsp;to 10 people and outdoor gatherings are restricted to 25. And according to Ford, the outdoor gathering limit covers protests, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, there was quite a buzz in the air on Saturday. Would there be a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-australia-54139669\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Melbourne, Australia-style<\/a>&nbsp;crackdown? Or would law enforcement look the other way? What was surely unexpected was Option number three: law enforcement actually facilitating the protest by giving protestors an escort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Premier Ford wants people to self-isolate and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/totimes.ca\/tag\/doug-ford-cherry-cheesecake-recipe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bake cherry cheesecakes<\/a>, #YahooNation congregated and marched maskless through the streets of downtown Toronto. And apparently they plan to do so again next Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bottom line: a victory was scored for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surely Premier Ford, who seemingly has all the enforcement wherewithal of a professional wrestling referee these days, must be fuming right now given that all the king\u2019s men and all the king\u2019s horses really aren\u2019t all that into fining and arresting law-abiding citizens who are protesting the ongoing erosion of their rights in the name of \u201cpublic safety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>#YahooNation defies Doug Ford&#8217;s restrictions; holds what could be Canada&#8217;s largest anti-lockdown protest yet By&nbsp;David Menzies | October 02, 2020 Organizers were threatened with fines ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Participants were threatened with fines of $880. So, what did &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4569\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4570,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4569\/revisions\/4570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}