Hundreds protest Manitoba's COVID-19 public health orders at The Forks

Hundreds of people gathered at The Forks in Winnipeg on Saturday to protest Manitoba's public health orders, breaking gathering rules in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 as well as more contagious coronavirus variants.

Among those in attendance wasTobias Tissen, the minister of the Church of God in Sarto, Man.His congregation has been fined numerous times for holding large, in-person gatherings in violationof public health orders.

Members of the group have also clashed with police and enforcement officers.

Patrick Allard, who hasorganized anti-mask protests and runs theManitoba Together Facebook group, which espouses freedom of speech and freedom of choice messages, was also there.

A CBC videographer at the protest estimated roughly 300 people were in attendance.

Manitoba currently has a 25-person limit for gatherings outdoors in public places. In a private yard, the limit is 10, in addition to the residents of a home.

Public health officials have refrained from lifting health orders furtherbecause Manitoba is in the midst of its third wave of COVID-19 cases, with highly contagious coronavirus variants on the rise.

Manitoba's chief public health officer did suggest recently more restrictions may be coming, including a possible requirement to wear masks when gathered outside.

Few, if any, of the people at Saturday's rally appeared to be masked.

No police in uniform or public health officials were seen at the protest.

CBC News asked the provincial governmentif enforcement officers were aware of Saturday'sevent. A spokesperson responded that any updateswith regards toenforcement willbe made available on Tuesday.