It was a smaller crowd that gathered along Paris Street in front of Tom Davies Square this afternoon for a second weekend protest against pandemic lockdown measures.
Organized by the group MADSudbury (for Mothers Against Distancing), the peaceful demonstration again featured a celebratory, congenial atmosphere. Protesters carried signs, waved Canadian flags, blew bubbles and sang the national anthem, during the time Sudbury.com was on the scene.
An event organized by the same group last weekend drew as many as 200 people.
JR Demellweek, who posted a notice about the rally to the MADSudbury Facebook page, told Sudbury.com at the event that while the group shares a name with a similar Toronto-based group, it is not affiliated with them.
Demellweek also described MADSudbury as less of an organized group and more of an “idea,” while encouraging those who might share their point of view about pandemic restrictions to get involved.
“This is about freedom of choice,” Demellweek said.
He said MADSudbury aims to become more involved in the community, describing the loose affiliation of people as “community-minded.”
Demellweek also told Sudbury.com he was one of the two people served a court summons this week by Greater Sudbury Police for allegedly violating the Reopening Ontario Act as organizers of last week’s downtown rally.
The two have a court appearance in Sudbury on July 6.
Demellweek said participants at the events are encouraged to be respectful of police, the media and members of the public while they protest. He told Sudbury.com earlier this week that the events are not anti-mask, but are more about “freedom.”
Few people who were at the rally while Sudbury.com was present were wearing masks.
One woman spoken to by Sudbury.com said she was at the rally with her grandchildren in mind, calling pandemic restrictions like masks, distancing and vaccines “medical tyranny.”
“(My grandchildren) aren’t going to have a future if this continues,” she said.
Another demonstrator said she was a retired nurse and nurse practitioner who isn’t normally an activist. She said she decided to attend the rally because while she believes COVID-19 was an issue last year, she believes the actual pandemic has already ended and the current restrictions are no longer necessary.
This isn’t the only anti-lockdown event MADSudbury has planned for this weekend. On Sunday (March 28), the group is staging a car rally to further get their message out.
GSPS and the city’s bylaw department told Sudbury.com this week that they would have a few officers on hand for today’s event. The officers would not be there to break up the event, but would be educating participants on how to protest in a COVID-safe manner. Officers would also be taking photos and video with an eye to identifying participants for possible fines under the Reopening Ontario Act.
The head of the city’s bylaw department, Brendan Adair, told Sudbury.com this week the approach officials toward these events is to balance people’s charter right to demonstrate with the need for public safety and the safety of officers on scene.
