'Test, trace and isolate': Sixth day of protests at Alberta legislature ahead of changing public health measures
For the sixth straight day people gathered outside of the legislature to protest the upcoming changes to Alberta's COVID-19 public health measures.
Starting Aug. 16 the provincial government plans to remove mandatory quarantine for people who test positive for the disease, it will only be recommended.
Albertans with COVID-19 symptoms will not be asked to get tested, but to stay at home until they feel better. Starting Aug. 30 COVID-19 tests will only be available to those who need to go to the hospital or see a physician.
At the same time masks will no longer be mandatory in public transit, rideshares and taxies.
"Test, trace and isolate," said one speaker Wednesday evening, calling those measures the "most basic" the province could keep in place.
Some of the protestors were parents concerned about the government's back-to-school plan. They're worried COVID-19 is more harmful to kids than Premier Jason Kenney and Dr. Deena Hinshaw say.
In a press conference Tuesday, Kenney said the decision was based on science and data.
“People are understandably anxious about both the disease itself and the damaging effect of restrictions,” said Kenney.
Organizers say they'll rally every day until Aug. 16 – the day the changes to public health measures are to take place – in an attempt to get the government to backtrack.
"I feel that if we keep doing this, we can get this government to change its course," said Albert Nobbs, founder of Alberta Activist Collective.
Nobbs says protests have also been happening in other cities across the province including Grande Prairie, Red Deer and Calgary.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.