Riders fans react to vaccine requirement; small group shows up to protest

For the first time, Saskatchewan Roughriders fans needed to prove they were vaccinated to get into Mosaic Stadium on Friday night.

Many fans didn’t seem to mind the new system at all.

980 CJME went to the stadium before the Roughriders’ CFL game against the Toronto Argonauts to see how fans felt about the system.

People in line either didn’t pay much mind to the vaccine passport or they were downright happy about it.

Gerry Thomson flew in from Toronto to cheer for his beloved Argos, and was impressed by how everything went.

“This was amazing. It was quick and simple,” he said of the process. “We’re very pro-vaccine anyway, and I feel safer going into the stadium showing proof of vaccine. Absolutely, I have no problem with it.”

While people were lined up to get in, workers went down the line, checking proof of vaccine and identification. There was also an express line for those who were pre-screened Thursday or Friday.

Joel Gagnon is a diehard Riders fan, and no amount of COVID measures could stop him from being happy for his first time going to a game this season.

“It’s great to support these guys. We’ve been fans for how long. All these restrictions are not going to stop us from coming. We’re going to come early, we’re going to get in early, and she’s going to be a good day,” he said with a grin.

“It’s a tough time we’re in right now, but if (a vaccine passport) is how we’re going to get out of it, it’s just a little price to pay. That’s the way I look at it.”

Glenn Alexander took the trip to Regina from Swift Current. He has been to all five of the Riders’ home games this season, and felt the most comfortable at this one since he’s strongly in favour of making sure people around him have their vaccine.

“I’m floored by the responses of some people,” he said. “We need our dogs to be vaccinated before we’ll let them play with other dogs … Suddenly, for this, for whatever reason, people have decided this is the thing to have a big freak-out over.”

A protest against the Riders’ vaccination policy had been planned for before the game outside Gate 3.

According to a post on Facebook, demonstrators were to “Stand in Solidarity” with those “forced” to be on the outside looking in. It asked if “segregation” was a thing of the past or “has it exisited (sic) this whole time?”

The rally turned out to be a group of about 10 people standing at the corner of Elphinstone Street and George Reed Way. They carried signs with slogans like “Save Canada” and “Sheep no more” as people walked past them toward the stadium.

Lily Duclaux, 17, was approached by one of the protesters. She didn’t feel like chatting, as she was worried about the man’s vaccination status and didn’t think the conversation would be productive.

“I choose not to associate with people who can be a danger to me,” Duclaux said. “He didn’t really get why I was backing away.”

Duclaux has interacted with people protesting COVID-19 measures before. There was a rally earlier this year when protesters marched through the Cornwall Centre in defiance of the requirement to wear masks in public indoor spaces. She was watching it in a car with her mother while wearing a mask.

“One of them yelled at me, ‘Are you ready to be free?’ And I said, ‘I already am free. I just choose to wear masks to keep myself safe,’ ” Duclaux said. “And he got kind of mad but we drove away.”

The emotion Duclaux feels most strongly when it comes to those who resist pandemic measures is disappointment. She has lived in Saskatchewan her entire life and thought better of the people here.

“It’s honestly shameful that there’s people in my city who genuinely believe that they’re going to get a vaccine and get microchipped or something,” she said. “Plus, just people on the Internet, social media continues to spread this idea and no one does anything about it. It’s a shame.

“I wish them all the best and I really hope that one day that they can understand why it’s such a big deal that the government is asking them to do these things.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho