Skip to content

Okanagan protesters call for end to COVID-19 shutdowns

Protesters gathered in Vernon and Kelowna Saturday to oppose shutdowns related to COVID-19 and more

Protesters have returned to Vernon’s Polson Park, this time in greater numbers.

More than 30 people cozied up to one another in the park beside Highway 97A Saturday afternoon, May 9, where they protested on an array of topics including shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protests are a continuation of the picketing that took place May 6 in the same area of the city, organized in a Facebook post created in the Vernon and Area Community Forum by Allysha Pomeroy.

More than a dozen people gathered on that occasion, holding signs reading “Trudeau is a traitor” and “no vaccines, no microchips.” Others protested recent gun control measures from the federal government the use of 5G cellular technology.

“There’s always going to be viruses around,” said protester Cindy Anderson on Saturday. “Why is the government changing our way of life so much?”Anderson, who was present with her children at Saturday’s protest, said she’s particularly outraged by the closing of schools across the country.

It wasn’t the only protest in the Okanagan area Saturday. In Kelowna a group of more than 10 people gathered in front of City Hall, calling for an end to shutdowns designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Like the group in Vernon, the Kelowna protesters’ targets were scattershot. Vaccinations and 5G were among the issues raised at the roadside rally, which featured signs with messages such as “free the healthy, quarantine the sick” and “my body, my choice; no vaccines or chips.”

READ MORE: Anti-Trudeau group protests COVID-19, 5G, gun ban in Vernon

READ MORE: Peer pressure, public messaging will affect behaviour when rules loosen: experts


Brendan Shykora
Follow us: Facebook | Twitter


Brendan Shykora

About the Author: Brendan Shykora

I started as a carrier at the age of 8. In 2019 graduated from the Master of Journalism program at Carleton University.
Read more