On Sunday, April 25th members of the “No More Lockdowns Canada” group organized a protest in Stratford regarding the implemented measures aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19.
The group originally organized the protest to be held at Lower Queens Park in Stratford. The City and Stratford Police Services barricaded the streets surrounding the area causing organizers to move locations to Downie and Shakespeare Street.
Stratford Police were present to keep the peace and investigate the matter. It was estimated that over 700 people were in attendance at the protest, which was peaceful in nature except for a few exceptions.
As a result of the investigation 14 individuals have been charged with failure to comply with an order made during a declared emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
The persons charged in this investigation were all organizers or speakers at the event, with one other individual who was identified as being aggressive at times throughout the protest.
All individuals have been charged by the way of Summons and will be required to attend court on June 22nd.