By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

disappointment

No arrests, tickets after pair of disrupted and cancelled forums

Sep 10, 2021 | 1:29 PM

Thursday night at Red Deer Polytechnic wasn’t the first time this week that anti-maskers disrupted and ultimately forced the cancellation of a federal election forum.

The same thing happened Wednesday at the Innisfail Legion, where candidates for Red Deer-Mountain View were scheduled to debate election topics. That event was hosted by the Innisfail Chamber of Commerce.

Tyrel Robinson, Chamber president, says there was some consideration given to cancelling the event ahead of time given the ongoing fourth wave of the pandemic, but it was decided to proceed due to how much preparation had gone into it.

“We had people at the door asking people coming in to put on a mask, but there was a group who came in without them,” Robinson shares. “A number of individuals were still not wearing masks once we’d started, so we made an announcement that if people wouldn’t put one on, we’d have to shut down the forum due to the RCMP’s recommendation.”

According to Robinson, RCMP showed up after candidate introductions, and then the event was stopped as candidates answered the first question, about 20 minutes in.

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“The Chamber isn’t for or against masks, but we are trying to follow current policies and procedures. It’s a bit disappointing we couldn’t hear from all candidates, but questions asked prior to the event are being compiled and sent to candidates for written responses.”

Those will be shared on the Chamber’s Facebook page and website as they’re received, says Robinson.

Incumbent Earl Dreeshen, who was present for both cancelled forums, spoke to rdnewsNOW prior to the events of Thursday.

“It was really disappointing from my perspective because many people had come to listen to all the candidates, some even said they’d shut down their combines early, and they were there to hear what the positions were,” Dreeshen says.

“Everyone knew going in what the regulations and circumstances were, but folks simply decided they weren’t going to follow that, and that’s what put people into a very difficult situation.”

After police showed up to Red Deer Polytechnic, some attendees, along with candidates, resumed the forum on an outdoor grassy area.

An Alberta RCMP spokesperson confirms to rdnewsNOW that no tickets or arrests were made at either event.

RELATED: Anti-maskers force cancellation of Red Deer election forum

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