Manitoba premier calls for collaborative approach between governments on anti-restrictions protests
Heather Stefanson says border protests fall to the feds, but she hasn't walked away from working on solutions
Manitoba's premier is taking a conciliatory approach to resolving protests against COVID-19 in the province, even as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised "severe consequences" for those who don't stand down.
Heather Stefanson said Friday she thinks protesters blocking most traffic at Manitoba's main international border crossing at Emerson and in front of the legislative building in Winnipeg have made their point, but stopped short of calling on them to go home.
Instead, Stefanson deferred to police to handle them — unless the situation escalates and becomes dangerous.
"Every protest is different, and if something starts to escalate to a point where people are doing things unlawfully, then we need to step in, absolutely. And we will monitor that as it goes forward," she said at a news conference.
Stefanson said for now, a resolution needs to come from different levels of government working together — but that most of the responsibility for dealing with protesters, particularly those blocking international border crossings in opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, falls to the federal government.
"Some of these protests are taking [place] at the border as a result of something that the prime minister of our country implemented. It's not something that's unique to Manitoba," Stefanson said.
"But I haven't walked away from that…. I think this has to be a collaborative approach to this."
Stefanson said she's set up a time to speak with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum Friday afternoon about the protests at the international border, where about 50 vehicles continued blocking all traffic except emergency vehicles and some agriculture transports, Manitoba RCMP said.
Later Friday, Trudeau said police and all levels of government are preparing to take action against the demonstrators behind the blockades across the country, warning protesters must stand down or potentially face criminal charges and steep financial penalties for illegal activities.
That update came following a conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden.
In a readout sent Friday, the White House said Biden had spoken with Trudeau earlier in the day to discuss the "ongoing blockage of key bridges and crossings" between the U.S. and Canada, including the border crossing between Emerson and Pembina, N.D.
The statement said Trudeau "promised quick action in enforcing the law" and that the two leaders agreed to stay in close touch on the issue in the days ahead.
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also told reporters in a scrum on Friday that he has scheduled a meeting with Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen, who a day earlier called on the federal government to "lower the temperature" on the border protests.
Eased restrictions coming
Stefanson also announced a plan to ease public health restrictions during the update at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg, where protesters have now been honking horns and slowing traffic outside for a full week.
But she said the government's plan to loosen the rules stems from what the province's infection and hospitalization data and modelling show, and insists she's not caving to protesters.
"Not at all. What I would say is that this has been ongoing," she said.
"We have been having these discussions for some time. We've been following the data…. So now it's time to, I think, safely move forward with the reduction of these restrictions."
WATCH | Rules weren't eased because of protests, premier says:
It's also about "giving Manitobans more freedom in their lives" after many sacrificed so much over the last two years, she said.
Stefanson said she hasn't been in touch directly with the protesters outside the legislative building, though she did get a letter from them earlier this week and said she has not yet had time to respond.
"Obviously, we've been occupied with other things here: looking at modelling, looking at the data to ensure that we can safely put together a plan to safely reopen," she said.
"Having said that, I'm not saying that I would never meet with them. It's just … there's a lot of demands on all of our times."
In a statement on Friday, the organizers of the downtown Winnipeg protest said they plan to ramp down their activities while still maintaining a presence in front of the legislative building.
The Winnipeg Police Service said it has maintained a full-time presence in the area since the protest began last week, and that it will send more officers this weekend "to ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and non-violent."
Southeast of Winnipeg, a separate anti-restrictions protest outside Steinbach Regional Secondary School led the southern Manitoba school to initiate a hold-and-secure situation on Thursday and move to remote learning on Friday.
Stefanson said people have the right to peaceful protest in Canada, but asked protesters to respect the rights of the people affected by their demonstrations.
'Totally unacceptable': Lamont
Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew accused Stefanson of capitulating to the protesters on Friday.
"I have to call out the fact that Premier Stefanson went to great pains to refuse to say the obvious thing that needs to be said by a leader at this time: It is time for the convoy to go home,'" Kinew said at the legislative building, following the premier's news conference.
"Everyone is saying it's time for the convoy to go home, except our premier."
Kinew also said he worries about the effect of lifting restrictions in Manitoba at this point on vaccine uptake.
As of Friday, 14 per cent of eligible people in the province were still unvaccinated, while only 42.3 per cent had gotten a third dose, the province's website says.
For those who haven't had a booster, or "were maybe on the fence" about a first or second dose, "are they going to follow through now?" he said.
Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he was shocked to hear the province is moving to lift most of the pandemic restrictions so quickly, especially since the government hadn't publicly shared any of the data it used to make that call at the time of Stefanson's announcement.
The province posted some of that data on its website later Friday afternoon.
"It's absolutely clear to me this is being done for political reasons," Lamont said.
There are steps a province can take to remove protesters clogging up roadways, he said, like the state of emergency declared in Ontario or the injunction to end the blockade at Windsor's Ambassador Bridge Friday.
"It's totally unacceptable," he said.
"All the premier has done is blame somebody else and say it's someone else's responsibility. It's not."
WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | Feb. 11, 2022:
