{"id":5133,"date":"2020-12-09T20:27:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T01:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=5133"},"modified":"2020-12-09T20:30:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T01:30:24","slug":"city-looks-at-bolstering-covid-19-penalties-amid-weekly-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=5133","title":{"rendered":"City looks at bolstering COVID-19 penalties amid weekly protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

City looks at bolstering COVID-19 penalties amid weekly protests<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

[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<\/em><\/strong>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Kaufmann<\/strong>Publishing date:Dec 08, 2020\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0\u00a0Last Updated 1 day ago\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0\u00a03 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hundreds of anti-mask protestors rally outside city hall in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK\/POSTMEDIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Article content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review includes the possibility of raising the current $50 fine, an amount Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said is insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

At the same time, further recommendations are being presented to the provincial government as COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths show no sign of slowing<\/a>, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose measures we put in two weeks ago look to be insufficient in bending the (infection) curve,\u201d said Hinshaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Monday, Coun. Druh Farrell said anti-COVID-19 restriction protesters have been \u201cintimidating\u201d nearby businesses, and asked if limits would be placed on the illegal weekly demonstrations at city hall<\/a> that have attracted several hundred people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve 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,\u201d Farrell told council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calling the demonstrations \u201cplague-spreaders,\u201d Farrell said the behaviour is harming businesses along Stephen Avenue which anti-restriction activists use as a marching route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is happening frequently. Is there a plan to limit the protests and the damage they cause?\u201d she said, adding she\u2019d prefer a short, sharp so-called circuit breaker business lockdown to smother the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anti-mask protest at Calgary city hall on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Jim Wells\/Postmedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A city bylaw official said peace officers were monitoring the latest protest \u2014 as they have in the past \u2014 and tickets for those violating a provincial health order, limiting outdoor gatherings to no more than 10 people, are being prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a number of investigations pending from this week\u2019s demonstrations and we anticipate laying more charges,\u201d said Richard Hinse, director of Calgary Community Standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf (businesses) feel threatened, we can get officers there to assist them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis change means there are now more than 100 peace officers working alongside Calgary Police Service to support the City\u2019s pandemic response in situations where individuals are in blatant violation of the Public Health Act and bylaws,\u201d said Ryan Pleckaitis, Chief Bylaw Officer, Calgary Community Standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article content continued<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Peace officers on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK\/POSTMEDIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 which has led to hospitalizations in Alberta more than tripling in the past month \u2014 is vastly exaggerated and that measures to quell it are more damaging than the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal group Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has filed a constitutional challenge to the pandemic restrictions in Alberta and several other provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its lawyers have said they\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nenshi, however, condemned the demonstrations as dangerous, while the city and province grapple to contain the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have every right to be an idiot but you don\u2019t have the right to crash shopkeepers, scare away people from their stores at this time of year and to expose your children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More protests by Walk for Freedom and other like-minded groups are planned for next Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 With files from Madeline Smith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BKaufmann@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/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":[2723,2724,2715,1213,2581,2725,2726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5133"}],"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=5133"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5135,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5133\/revisions\/5135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}