Officer at ‘freedom rally’ explains resignation from Saskatoon Police Service

The police officer who attended the ‘children’s freedom rally’ in Saskatoon in late April and later resigned says the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) required him to work at a desk and be tested for COVID-19 daily after the event, but he did not believe that was necessary.

Nathan Lynchuk has been identified as the officer who resigned. The Saskatoon Police Association confirmed his identity and 650 CKOM/980 CJME has also independently confirmed his identity after a video of Lynchuk surfaced online.

The 32-year-old former constable says in the video posted to a Facebook page called  “What’s Up Canada” that he took his children to Kiwanis Park on April 24.

“So, we decided to go to the Freedom Rally, the Children’s Freedom Rally, and I let my kids have a normal day for once,” he said.

“It was an awesome day out, super nice. Kids played with other kids, got their faces painted. It was an awesome day.”

He said he was identified after he and others were photographed at the event. After the rally, Saskatoon police handed out 11 tickets to those they called “key participants” in the rally. It’s not clear whether Lynchuk was one of those ticketed.

Lynchuk claims in the video that he was contacted Sunday evening before his next shift and told he couldn’t go back to his regular position. He says he was told that when he showed up for work for the rest of the week, he would be assigned to a desk to do his work and that he’d have to take rapid tests for COVID-19 before work each day. He said that wasn’t something he would do because he “felt fine.”

“Naturally that wasn’t something I was going to agree with or do,” said Lynchuk in the video.

The SPS sent out a statement earlier this week indicating that an officer was under investigation for allegedly attending the rally and was “asked to take steps to ensure the safety for both our organization and the community during the investigation.”

While the SPS is not commenting on the video, a spokesperson did provide a statement about its role as it pertains to public health orders.

“The SPS is committed to upholding and enforcing the restrictions under the Public Safety Order in our community’s fight against COVID-19.”

Lynchuk said in the video he disagrees with that commitment by his former employer. He says his allegiance is to his family, not to his former job.

“The big thing for me is, I’ve always been a man who put his family before his job,” he said.

“And that’s what it was. It was a job at the end of the day.”

According to the SPS 2020 Annual Report, there were 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among civilian and sworn members that year, including Chief Troy Cooper. Cooper has also said that dozens of members have had to isolate after being exposed to the virus — some of them several times.