Rally at legislative building calls on province to reinstate masking restrictions, have vaccine certificates

Between 100-150 people rallied at the legislative building Thursday afternoon demanding the province bring back masking, testing, tracing and mandatory isolation for COVID-19-positive people.

Speakers at the rally demanded the provincial government follow science and implement evidence-based strategies to reduce the strain on the health-care sector and protect children who cannot get vaccinated yet.

Donna Pasienchnik read a letter that Saskatoon pediatrician Karen Leis sent to Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman, urging them to make decisions based on science.

"Saskatoon Hospitals here are in a crisis mode," Leis's letter said. "We are in the midst of a fourth wave, and I know firsthand from colleagues working in adult medicine that our emergency departments and wards are overflowing."

Leis said public health should not be about politics.

"The MHOs (medical health officers), public health physicians, infectious disease specialists, are all trained in pandemic management. They are following the evidence as it's being published, collaborating with colleagues all over the world, and they know how to keep populations safe. The pandemic should not be about politics, polls, philosophical preferences or winning elections."

Leis called on the government to reinstate masking in all indoor places, ramp up testing and contact tracing, and implement vaccination incentives.

Saskatchewan CUPE president Judy Henley said since all restrictions have been lifted, the provincial government has been missing in action.

"It seems like after July 11 they all went on vacation," she said of Moe and Merriman. "And now they are ignoring the numbers.

"If we want our freedoms like we are used to, we have to pull together."

Henley said she agreed with Moe that we have to get used to living with COVID, "but he has to get used to governing under COVID and representing all of the people in this province, not the select few."

"He needs to get back here instead of on the golf course."

NDP Opposition leader Ryan Meili addressed the crowd, saying Moe has given up trying to combat the pandemic.

"There is not a single public health order in place despite being the worst province in the country for COVID-19," Meili said.

"(Moe's) given up on any accountability. Heck, he's hosted more golf tournaments in the fourth wave than he has press conferences,"  Meili said. "Scott Moe gave up. He gave up on kids, he gave up on health-care workers, he gave up on everybody in this province who should be protected by their premier and their government."