Sask. premier condemns the behaviour of some at trucker protest

While Premier Scott Moe released a statement on the weekend in support of the ongoing trucker protest, he’s calling out the behaviour of some on and near Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Nazi signs were spotted among the crowd and there were people pictured on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“These people should be held accountable,” Moe said Monday during a media conference in Regina. “If the acts they have performed are illegal, I would hope that the relevant law enforcement agency would ultimately hold these individuals accountable. In fact, I would go one step further and say (for) what these individuals are doing, they owe Canadians an apology.

“It is absolutely despicable that we see these individuals doing this. It takes away from the broader message that the vast majority of law-abiding folks participating — whether it be the Ottawa rally or the rally we saw here in Regina — it takes away from the message that they are conveying that vaccine mandates aren’t working, that vaccine mandates aren’t necessary and (are) something they would like the federal government to remove.”

Flowers are laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial a day after a person was seen dancing on the Tomb during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Moe recalled a rally that took place in the summer of 2020 when graffiti was found on the Saskatchewan war memorial. He believes acts like that detract from the message of those rallying.

“We should always remember when an individual performs a despicable act like we are seeing here or like quite frankly when we saw a number of people in front of the Legislative Building having their voices heard on a very important topic, we saw one individual ultimately spray paint over the names of soldiers that have given their life to this country and this province on our war memorial here in Regina,” Moe said. (That was) also a despicable act and that individual should be held accountable.

“But that should in no way detract from the message that was being brought forward and heard on that particular day and the same holds true today.”

But with thousands on Parliament Hill for the trucker rally, there were enough people observing such acts who did not step in, something Moe believes should also be questioned.

“I would encourage anyone when they see something that is discriminatory, or a despicable act like what we are discussing or something illegal, they should step in,” he said.

“I won’t ascertain between good and bad people but most certainly we should step in and stop some of the actions that we have all seen in the news. But we should be separating out individual actions from the broader message that people want to bring.”

Moe took the opportunity to say the rally in Regina on Saturday in support of what is happening in Ottawa wasn’t just truckers but he claimed it had teachers, nurses, welders and others involved in sending the message that vaccine mandates should go. Moe noted the current mandate in Saskatchewan will likely be lifted in the coming weeks.