Shutdown protesters fill Confederation Square
People are fed up, says one participant
Protesters headed to Confederation Square on Saturday to voice their objections to the province’s latest stay-at-home order.
The downtown park, across George Street from City Hall, saw about 250 people gathering for the latest in a growing series of weekly protests.
Lorne Scanlon, who described himself as a participant in the rally as he handed out T-shirts, said the protests are drawing people who are fed up with the way the pandemic has been handled by the provincial government.
“Today, a lot of people are upset with the government’s backand-forth on this, on closing small businesses down and not letting people make a living — it’s just the ever-changing rules,” he said.
The turnout Saturday is an indicator of people’s feelings, Scanlon said. “There’s a lot of support. A lot of people are supporting in the background but not willing to stand out and be seen, which is a shame. But, I also understand it. I’m retired so there’s not much that can be done to me. But I respect people who stand up against what they feel is wrong.”
About 150 people turned out for the protest.
The rally’s theme was “Enough is Enough.” Scanlon said he interpreted that to mean people should be allowed to make up their own minds about how to deal with the
pandemic.
“We’ve been in this for 13 months now,” Scanlon said “There are people who feel they need to stay at home, to stay locked up, and do nothing. And there are some people haven’t been out of their house in 13 months. And some people say ‘hey, I’ll just go out and live my life.’ And there comes a point where people need to make their own decisions.”
He noted that previous coverage of protests mentioned the group’s opposition to mandatory mask orders, adding there’s more to it and noting that some people taking part in the rally were wearing masks outside.
“It’s not about antimasks,” he said. “Some people are antimask. Some are (anti-vaccination).
“Some people just want to start living their life again. And that’s what I’m here for. I want to live my life without getting into the arguments about it, because it doesn’t matter anymore. If you believe in one side and I believe in the other and someone else believes in something else, it doesn’t matter. Just start living our lives again.”