Juno News - December 21, 2020


Hundreds attend the Christmas Freedom Rally in Saskatoon


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

159.05984

Word Count

776

Sentence Count

40


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, I'm just off to the Freedom Rally here in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan just to see what
00:00:10.800 is really going on. Now the mayor of Saskatoon, Charlie Clark, stated that this was an anti-mask
00:00:16.680 rally and that he wants individuals here investigated but we're here from True North
00:00:21.960 to find out the truth of why people are really here. Is this really an anti-mask rally or is
00:00:27.660 there something much deeper that needs to be explained? Let's go find out. The Christmas
00:00:32.460 Freedom Rally began in Davidson, Saskatchewan which started as a convoy continuing on into Saskatoon
00:00:38.340 where the group grew to roughly 250 people. Now in the discussions that were held by the speakers as
00:00:45.580 well as those people on the ground, this was not an anti-mask rally, not in the least. One of the
00:00:51.040 speakers even stated if you want to wear a mask do so, if you want to socially distance please do.
00:00:56.220 We are not going to comply but it is your right and your freedom to do those very things.
00:01:02.220 Now in a series of tweets released by the Saskatoon mayor earlier this week, he stated and I quote,
00:01:08.540 to anyone thinking about attending another anti-mask rally in Saskatoon this weekend,
00:01:13.300 give your head a shake. Do not join a rally that tells people to go out and endanger the lives of
00:01:19.400 others. He continued, it is very frustrating to see people going out and undermining all of the efforts
00:01:25.980 that the rest of us have taken. I expect there to be enforcement of public health orders that are in
00:01:31.440 place and that the organizers of these events are investigated and held to account. End of quote.
00:01:38.460 Yet during the Black Lives Matter protests in Saskatoon which gathered roughly a thousand people,
00:01:44.500 the same Saskatoon mayor stated, we are facing the collision of two pandemics and we need to take
00:01:51.420 each of them very seriously. People's right to be heard is a fundamental right in the Canadian
00:01:56.040 constitution. End of quote. Yet now he wants investigations into individuals exercising the
00:02:02.780 very rights and freedoms that those exercising their rights and freedoms during the Black Lives Matter
00:02:07.240 protests. He wants these organizers of the Freedom Rally investigated. Earlier this month in Regina,
00:02:13.820 there was yet another Freedom Rally held where two of the organizers were issued $2,800 fines for
00:02:20.660 defying public health orders. Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe stated, I understand a large anti-mask
00:02:27.200 rally is being planned today in Regina. I hope those attending would consider how insignificant the
00:02:32.680 inconveniences they are being asked to follow really are compared to the pain of losing a loved one.
00:02:38.960 End of quote. Now one of those organizers at the Freedom Rally in Regina was also the organizer of
00:02:44.840 the Saskatoon rally held on Saturday. His name is Mark Friesen and I caught up with him at the rally and he stated this.
00:02:51.880 We demand that our government officials respect the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
00:02:58.720 Of course, the freedom to assemble, freedom of speech. All of the freedoms contained under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
00:03:05.800 need to be respected and upheld. They're not doing that. They are putting forward measures that go directly against that charter.
00:03:14.880 Government is meant for specific purposes and was granted its authority by God. God authorized human
00:03:22.020 beings to hold each other accountable for criminal violence and government is our institutional mechanism
00:03:28.240 for doing so. Government at its core exists to uphold public order. But when the government refuses to
00:03:36.760 follow its own rules, such as presenting critical proof or justification for why they are shutting down
00:03:42.560 businesses while granting others additional flexibility or why they are mandating masks or removing our civil liberties,
00:03:51.040 they violate their own word. So therefore it is up to us, the people, to hold leaders accountable.
00:03:58.880 This is what a healthy democracy looks like. It's about a push and pull mechanism that says when the government
00:04:05.840 is overreaching, it is therefore the authority of the people to rise up and remind their leaders of what their role
00:04:13.520 really is. Freedom of speech cannot become a partisan issue, which we are seeing it evolve into. It is of
00:04:23.280 benefit for all Canadians when speech is freely exercised, whether it's in a forum that you like or not.
00:04:30.160 In the case of those attending freedom rallies in Saskatchewan, it's not just about advocating for their
00:04:37.680 protected rights and freedoms that are being trampled upon. They believe that they are standing up for
00:04:44.400 all Canadians' freedoms and that is something the media refuses to cover. For True North, I'm Matea Myrda.