Maple Creek mayor urges people to stay away from weekend COVID-19 protest

The mayor of Maple Creek says she hopes people in her southwestern Saskatchewan town will stay away from a rally to protest COVID-19 restrictions planned for this weekend.

Mayor Michelle McKenzie says she isaware of an expected gathering in opposition to the government's public health orders.But she hopes people in town will stay home, and notes there will be a police presence.

"The RCMP are going to monitor the situation from outside and they're going to be videotaping everything, so if there is any breach of the public health code there, they'll be able to get fines later," said McKenzie.

Current public health orders in the province restrict outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 10 people.

According to the website and Twitter feed of Chris Saccoccia, whogoes by the name "Chris Sky" and has rallied against health measuresduring the COVID-19 pandemic, his "freedom convoy" is set to arrive in Maple Creekon Saturday.

A "Calgary Freedom Walk" video dated April 17 and posted on Saccoccia's website showshimleading a crowd of dozens of unmasked people in a chant of, "Just say no!"

The Maple Creek area saw a spike in COVID-19 casesafter anEaster weekend partywent "way over" the current outdoor gathering limit, according to Health Minister Paul Merriman.

Dozens of people became infected with COVID-19 after attending the party, wherethere was"minimal" adherence to public health rules, Merriman said.

According to Global News, more than 100 people attended that party and the ensuing outbreak involves the B117 coronavirus variant, which was first identified in the U.K.

As of Friday, 40 cases of COVID-19 were tied to the event.

McKenzie says those infections drive home the importance of following pandemicmeasures like physical distancing, hand-washing and avoiding large gatherings.

"If anything comes out of this, I would really like a positive message that these rules are set in place for a reason, and this is how quickly something can happen."