Roughly 40 Sylvan Lakers oppose COVID-19 restrictions at council meeting

“The Town cannot make the law,” he said. “People that are going to attend town hall meetings and deal with people that are civil servants and work in government, they need to be respectful of these people.”

While some of the group left at this point, the remainder entered council chambers with one woman bringing a box of papers to the front, stating she was serving liability notices to council members, Sinclair said.

He then said one man uttered a threat that “We’re coming to your houses” to council members. When Sinclair spoke up to the man, he then allegedly said he would also go to Sinclair’s house.

Sinclair believes another group member also stood up to the man as he witnessed a shoving match ensue. No punches were thrown and the situation deescalated before RCMP arrived.

“I believe in body autonomy. I don’t think anybody’s got a right to tell anybody what to put in their body, so really I would agree with them on a lot of stuff that they were there about,” said Sinclair, stating his main issue was with the threat that was made.

“I think there were people there that were on the same side as that fellow that were appalled at his behavior because some of the people left when he shouted that threat. Some didn’t.”

A video posted on the Lake Nation Facebook page, made for residents of Sylvan Lake, shows a portion of the event in council chambers and can be found below.

Video by Dawn Wickberg, shared as a comment by Maureen Chambers to Jordan Sinclair’s Dec. 14 post about the event on the Lake Nation Facebook page.

The video begins with a woman presenting a box of papers to council, stating they will be “going on notice for going against the Constitution and the Charter” and if their alleged discrimination continues, criminal charges will be filed to council members personally.

“I’ve been here 30 years. I helped fundraise when the old arena roof filled in, I coached hockey here for seven years, I swam, my wife was on Chamber of Commerce to promote a pool for this town and I can’t use it? I can’t go watch my grandsons play hockey?” said a resident and member of the group.

Mayor Megan Hanson responds that it is a provincial law the town must follow. The group states that other towns like Blackfalds had previously not had an REP program in place for recreational facilities.

The first woman references Section 52.1 of the Constitution which states it is the supreme law of Canada and any law inconsistent has no force. She also says the Public Health Agency of Canada states vaccination cannot be made mandatory as it violates the Constitution.

A man can then be heard in the background uttering the threat, to which some in the council chambers voice disapproving statements like “Come on”, “No” and the first woman saying, “I am not for that”.

The woman filming says, “There’s no place in community for segregation whatsoever” and another man says, “You want to put us under financial stress, you’re going to get the same thing”.

One of the group members approaches the man who uttered the threat and tells him to stop, to which he responds “Don’t you touch me”.

Sylvan Lake RCMP confirmed they were called to the event to keep the peace at 5:45 p.m. to which around 30 people were then present. “

The situation de-escalated prior to police attendance; and a report was made to police by an individual who was allegedly threatened. The Sylvan Lake RCMP investigation into an uttering threats allegation is ongoing,” said Sgt. Stephanie Lesyk, Acting Detachment Commander, in a statement. No arrests or charges have been made at this time.

“While citizens have a right to peaceful freedom of expression, this is balanced with the right of the general public, local residents and businesses to the right to a safe environment.”

Councillor Kjeryn Dakin had posted her recount of the story on Facebook, with various members of the community commenting different perspectives of the event. The post has since been taken down.

In reaching out to council, Mayor Megan Hanson could only confirm the size of the group and their refusal to follow the mask policy. She did not provide further comment as the matter is now under RCMP investigation.

“Council was unable to move forward with any structured resemblance of a regular meeting, during which time comments from a specific individual required RCMP presence due to the serious nature of the comment. The council meeting eventually resumed without further incident,” the town released in a statement.

“To me, it looks like we’ve reached the boiling point and I think it’s going to boil over and nobody needs that. I just like to encourage people, you know, the proper way to go to town council is, if you’re going to go with a delegation of 50 people, is to make an appointment, come, they’ll give you time to speak, everyone gets treated respectfully,” said Sinclair.

“I live in a great community and it’s a shame that it’s being divided like this. I think that governments on all levels need to do a better job of getting the rules and regulations out and doing a better job of explaining why it is what it is.”

rdnewsNOW has been unsuccessful in our attempts to contact other members of the group present at the event and Councillor Dakin.

by Alessia Proietti

Roughly 40 Sylvan Lakers oppose COVID-19 restrictions at council meeting

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