Protester crashes Brad Wall speech in Regina, yells 'Stop the cuts!'

What started Thursday night as a relatively sedate protest outside Brad Wall's latest Premier's Dinner spilled over into the Regina venue itself, with one womanloudly interrupting the premier mid-speech with cries of "Shame on you!"

Chelsea Flook, an organizer for last night's protest, filmed herself interrupting the premier inside the Evraz Place building. Sheposted the video on Facebook along with a message explaining her actions.

"Disruption, some will say, goes too far," she wrote. "But considering the disruption caused by this government's budget choices, some would also say that my act of disruption pales in comparison to the ripple effects of Sask. Party callousness."

Sask. Party MLA hands her card

The video, taken from Flook's perspective, shows Wall on stage before a crowd of 1,400,seemingly unfazedby Flook's sudden, repeated cries of "Stop the cuts!"

"Shame on you for what you're doing to poor communities, what you're doing to our most vulnerable people," says Flook in the video.

Later, Wall talked to reporters about the incident.

"I think it's fair that that's going to happen in politics," Wall said.

"You know, we live in a free country and people are going to find creative ways to make their case, even if they are in a place without a ticket, that's fair enough. Obviously, we've seen a lot of concern about the budget and want to be able to respond to it, and that was the point of my speech tonight."

• VIDEO: 6 arrested after protest inside STC bus parked in Saskatoon

The video showedthat less than a minuteinto her outburst, a man with a red tie identifying himself as Saskatchewan MLA Paul Merrimanapproachedher and offeredher a business card.

"If you call me, I will sit down with your group and you and we will have a talk," he said. "But we should berespectful."

"I'll give you my time if you give him his," he said, referring to the premier.

"I will hold you to that promise," respondedFlook, shortly before the nearly two-minute long video ended.

'A mighty crew'

Earlier, events outsidethe latest Premier's Dinnerwere more low-keycompared to the raucous oneheldin Saskatoon in April.

• VIDEO: Protesters swarm cars outside dinner event hosted by Sask. Premier Brad Wall

"I'mdisappointedtherearen't 400 or 500 people like there were at the [legislativeassembly]last week," said protester BarbaraMader.

"But on theotherhand, this is amightycrew and they've got a lot to say."

About 50 sign-waving and pot-banging protesters assembled near the speech venue late in the afternoon.

Protesters concerned about the cuts announced in the 2017-18 provincial budget unveiled more than two months ago said they planned to remain in the area until 9 p.m.

The March budget they're concerned about included funding cuts to schools, universities, libraries, a hearing aid program, funerals for low-income people and shut down the provincial bus company, STC.

Mader, an artist and educator, designed her own cardboardwraparound sign painted with messages decrying what she called the government's "austerity" and selling of "all Crowns."

Doug Mader said the budget cuts haven't personally affected him but that that was beside the point.

"This budget is just so mean-spirited and so bad. How can you not be angry about it?" he said.

Saskatoon protest got rowdy

In an earlier interview,Flook, organizer for Stop the Cuts Regina, saidthe protesters were not planning to block traffic but would be making a whole bunch of noise by banging pots and pans.

The protest followed one at theSaskatoon Premier's Dinner at the end of April.

That dinner, which drew a crowd of about 1,000 who came to hear Wall speak,saw protesters blocking traffic, jumping on vehicles, protesters and attendees swearing at one another and there were many birds flipped.

• Premier's dinner protest took Saskatoon police by surprise: chief
• Police collecting video, investigating complaints about Premier's Dinner protest

In the wake of the Saskatoon dinner, police in that citysaid they were caught off guard. The Regina Police Service saidit hada plan.

"We know that people are still quite emotional about the recent provincial budget," said Elizabeth Popowich, manager of public information and strategic communications for the RPS.

"We encourage protesters to express themselves without breaking the law," Popowich said.

"We also want the attendees of the Premier's Dinner to be respectful of other's rights to peaceful protest."