‘Grizzly Patriot’ Mark Friesen, Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 dissident, has died

A Saskatoon man who was a prominent voice against the COVID-19 mandates and vaccine has died.

Mark Friesen, dubbed the “Grizzly Patriot,” was outspoken during the pandemic. He opposed the mask mandate and lead multiple rallies in protest of the restriction on public gatherings.

Friesen, like many who found themselves at odds with the zeitgeist of that era, was very concerned about the loss of his rights. He felt the sweeping powers given to unelected public health officials to restrict Charter rights, including freedom of movement and association, threatened the very fabric of our democratic society.

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In 2021, Friesen was one of the Saskatoon COVID-19 patients transferred to an Ontario hospital for care during the pandemic.

He participated in public demonstrations during lockdown, and received several tickets for violating public health orders, for which he was found guilty in 2023. He also ran as a candidate for the former People’s Party of Canada (PPC) and Buffalo Party.

Friesen died last week. According to his wife Jannecke Nielsen Friesen, Friesen had been diagnosed with dementia and ALS in recent years. At the time of his death, he was hospitalized with his third bout of pneumonia.

In a Valentine’s Day post in February, she wrote a loving and mournful tribute to Friesen, as dementia took its toll.

On Friday Maxime Bernier, a former cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government who went on to form the PPC, offered a tribute to Friesen as a man of quiet courage.

“Mark believed deeply in freedom and in a government that serves the people, rather than dominating them. He embodied the very best of the PPC spirit: a man of integrity, resilience, and inexhaustible kindness. He possessed a gift for making complex ideas profoundly human and for transforming political conviction into a genuine bond,” he said in a Facebook post Friday.

“Mark reminded us that true change is born of ordinary people who refuse to remain silent.”

A funeral service is planned for Monday at 2 p.m. at Christ the Healer on Township Road 380 outside Saskatoon. Friesen’s wife says the venue can accommodate up to 500 people, but she’s not sure how many will attend.