Manitoba Health Coalition Provincial Director Thomas Linner said:

"It is disheartening that the provincial government has chosen to reject the reality facing our health care system in favour of catering to extreme voices that do not reflect the view of Manitobans. 

In Manitoba: 

• Patients are still being transferred out of their home communities for necessary critical care, due to staff shortages and overwhelmed hospitals
• The backlog for surgical and diagnostic tests is over 150,000 and growing
• 170 Manitobans succumbed to COVID-19 in January
• So far this week alone, another 22 Manitobans have lost their lives to COVID-19

So far this week, the protest movement camped outside the Legislative Building has blocked access to health facilities, schools and the Emerson border crossing to the United States. This is not a movement that deserves to be catered to with political victories that will hurt families, over-worked and understaffed front-line health care workers and the most vulnerable Manitobans.

Manitobans deserve better."