Police observe Freedom Rally as protesters vow to send tickets back unpaid

At least four North Bay Police Service vehicles remained nearby or spent the hour circling the parking lot during the third Freedom Rally at the North Bay waterfront, Saturday.

See related story: Local Medical Officer of Health believes protests are 'irresponsible'

Several speakers passed the microphone around and addressed the dozens of onlookers on a sunny afternoon. Most wore no masks and social distancing was at a minimum as supporters of the Northern Freedom Alliance event were encouraged to hug one another in solidarity for the movement. 

The Freedom Rally was a peaceful one. Music played over loudspeakers after the speeches and the attendees, some of them families with small children, mingled in groups. Some of the supporters brought Canadian flags up the grassy knoll to wave along Memorial Drive. To that point, approximately one hour after the start of the rally, it did not appear anyone had been ticketed by police.

See also: Freedom rally supporters say restrictions are harming our children

The speakers touched on basic freedoms, their right not to wear a mask, their right not to have their movements restricted.

Added Ray, one of the supporters, "We have the right to our opinion. If you want to wear a mask, you have the right to do so...nobody has the right to dictate to us how we live our lives."

“The North Bay Police Service respects the right of every Canadian to protest,” said Police Chief Scott Tod, Friday. “However, there is currently a Declaration of Emergency and provincial Stay-at-Home Order in effect. If we observe individuals deliberately violating the Reopening Ontario Act and putting the safety of others at risk, we will be required to do our job and enforce the law. That includes the possibility to laying charges.”

Police officers mostly remained in their cruisers while the speeches were made, emerging later to confer with one another in a group along the sidewalk between the marina and the gazebo. They remained at a distance from the participants, content instead to collect information about the attendees from afar and perhaps issue tickets at a later time.

A mask-less woman yelled over one of the speeches from a van driving across the parking lot: "We need the lockdown to keep us safe. And, put on your masks!"

One of the supporters from the rally retorted, "Where is your face diaper?"

NBPS announced Friday a few of the Freedom Rally supporters had been ticketed for organizing and attending the previous events. NBPS charged three people with violations of the Reopening Ontario Act in relation to the previous two gatherings. 

See also: Over 100 join rally to protest COVID restrictions

The trio charged with "failure to comply with a continuing 7.0.2 order," includes a 46-year-old North Bay woman (two counts), a 64-year-old East Ferris woman, and a 36-year-old Trout Creek man.

Joanna shared she was one of the women ticketed and told the crowd she would not be paying her ticket, nor would the others who had received them. 

"You write 'rescission' on it. 'No contract' in red," she announced, "and you send it back. We have no contract with them, they have no jurisdiction with us. That's the common law. We're not in a contract with them. They work for the Corporation of North Bay. We're here as free people."

One bystander, local man Larry Bonney approached the officers sitting in the various police vehicles in the parking lot, pleading for them to put an end to the rally.

"I asked them if they were blind or if they need glasses. They said 'no,'" Bonney explained pointing to the rally. "What happened to the Reopening Act?" he said he asked three NBPS officers. 

A supporter from the rally interrupted and asked Bonney if he was unemployed and that was why he supported lockdowns?

After a tense exchange of pleasantries, Bonney continued the interview. He indicated he intended to file a complaint about police inaction at the rallies with the police chief.

"I'm sick and tired of this lockdown. I'm sick of wearing a mask. The longer they keep doing this and getting away with it, the longer it will last," he said. "These rallies are not part of the problem. They are the problem."

Bonney also told BayToday he sat outside the last rally in his car and called the police asking, "Where is everybody?" in reference to the NBPS presence. "I feel the police service has let us down."

Meanwhile, during the rally itself, Joanna, on behalf of the Northern Freedom Alliance told the assembled crowd she thought it was "a pretty educated crowd. We're warriors of the light. In a time of darkness, we're bringing light. And, I'm not talking down to anybody here because a lot of the time the media likes to speak to the lowest common denominator, trying to reach the greatest population they can. 

"You people here are leaps and bounds above what some other people are. You get it. You connect the dots. You understand that one plus one plus one still equals three — even though they're trying to tell us it still equals two. We're done with the lies...We're done with being told what to do."

With files from Chris Dawson and Jeff Turl