Anti-Lockdown protest outside Canadian Museum for Human Rights
By: Maria Garcia
Photo credits: Zachary Kitchen, CTV news
Over the weekend in Winnipeg, a group called “Manitoba Movements for Change” held a rally protest in order to “raise awareness to mental health” Organized through Facebook. This event was meant to raise awareness against the strict Covid-19 restrictions the province has put in place. The regulations have been up for almost two weeks. They enable people to have indoor gatherings that include two people outside of your household and an outdoor gathering for five people outside of your family. Furthermore, the ‘only essential services and goods’ ban has been removed. People can now enjoy going for a haircut or to the gym.
However, this does not seem to be enough freedom for some people like those at the protest on Saturday who showed up without masks and signs saying, “our youth are suffering” and “isolation kills.” In their opinion, the restrictions are detrimental to mental health, and they are demanding they be put to an end. While the frustration is understandable, four UK Covid variant cases have been detected in the province. Now is not the time to be demanding ease of restrictions. For over a year, Covid-19 has impacted the lives of the entire world. Millions of deaths have resulted from this pandemic, and many more will continue to die unless we can hold on a bit longer. We must also remember why the code red restrictions came into place and how our carelessness got us to the point of three-digit deaths. I also urge the protesters to remember that we are ultimately trying to limit the spread in order to keep kids in school. Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy. We can do it!