Freedom protest moved to city hall, police monitor situation at Calgary park

A mass protest scheduled to take place in Calgary's Central Memorial Park on Saturday has moved out of the neighbourhood, resettling on the steps of Calgary city hall.

The rally, organized by a group calling itself Calgary Freedom Central, was supposed to take place at the park at 1 p.m., but CTV News crews found the gathering that had met in the park for the past several weekend never materialized there.

Instead, it took place outside city hall, where people waved flags and listened to speakers as police looked on.

It was a massive show of force from the Calgary Police Service, however, as hundreds of members were mobilized at the scene to keep the peace.

A group of counter-protesters, made up of Beltline residents who were tired of the ongoing demonstrations, also showed up at the scene, but they marched to Central Memorial Park.

Once there, they engaged with a handful of freedom protesters while police stood between them.

COURT INJUNCTION

The change in tone comes after a temporary court injunction was granted Friday and a resolution from the Calgary Police Service that says it will enforce those rules.

Following a meeting of the Calgary Police Commission, Chief Mark Neufeld said "there will be no marching" on Saturday.

"Residents will see a significant police presence," he said Friday afternoon.

"There will be nobody behaving that way on the Beltline."

The order says that anyone who blocks roads or sidewalks could be charged and potentially arrested.

The same threat applies to anyone accused of excessive noise or conducting commercial activity in parks without proper permits.

The rules come after a group of Beltline residents, fed up with the weeks of freedom rallies in their communities, organized a counter-protest on March 12 that turned ugly.

CHANGE IN MESSAGING

The freedom protesters, who had long fought against the COVID-19 public health restrictions imposed on Albertans and Canadians, also seemed to sing a different tune during this latest protest.

Instead of speaking about the unfairness of restrictions, many of them turned their attention back to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.

Last week, Premier Jason Kenney called out the protesters for their criticism of COVID-19 rules even though Alberta had virtually none to speak of.

"I would suggest that maybe people could find more productive ways of expressing their frustration, but maybe here’s an idea – how about we all just move on from the frustration of COVID?" said Kenney last week.

"How about we leave it in the rear view mirror?"