The Saskatchewan Legislature announced on Friday afternoon that the building will be closing temporarily due to security risks.
According to social media posts, the trucker convoy plans to stay at the Legislative Building until mandates are lifted.
“Access to the Saskatchewan Legislative Building is temporarily suspended for all visitors as of February 4, 2022,” according to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly website.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe addressed the protest during a virtual conference with other premiers, saying folks are growing weary of public health measures.
“All Canadians do have the right to protest, however they do have that right to protest peacefully and within the confines of the law that we have,” Moe said.
“We support everyone going out and getting vaccinated in our province…however we’re also looking at our public health measures and the effectiveness of each of those public health measures given that we have a number of additional tools that are available to us,” Moe added.
Regina’s Frost winter festival is also scheduled to take place this weekend at Wascana, near the legislative building.
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“They’re looking at confining some of the area to pedestrian traffic so that people do have access to the Frost festival in Regina as well,” Moe said.
Moe seemed to reject a reporter’s suggestion that it seems he is “placating” protesters taking part in so-called freedom rallies.
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“The fact of the matter is that Saskatchewan and, I don’t doubt that all provinces, are always looking at the effectiveness of the measures that we have in place,” Moe responded.
The premier also pointed to wide access to vaccines and rapid tests in Saskatchewan as effective tools in the fight against COVID-19.
He added the collective goal is to reduce the strain on provincial health care systems.
Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili responded to the trucker convoy coming back to Regina on Saturday.
“To those who want to share your views, share your views. But if you’ve got some idea going to copy the garbage, the invasion of Ottawa we’re seeing right now, to bring that to Regina — you’re going to threaten to occupy the people’s house and prevent the work of democracy — give your head a shake and stay the hell home,” Meili said.
According the the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly website, all tours, education events and public events in the building are cancelled until further notice.
The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is also planning on organizing a legislature protest of its own Saturday to “express” “discontent” with Moe’s handling of the pandemic.
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