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Saskatoon’s sole declared mayoral candidate is questioning the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggesting shutting down the economy was a mistake.

Jason Scott Friesen is also defending a recent social media post in which he shared a meme of Adolf Hitler, with a message stating that people turning in neighbours and businesses “did the Reich thing.”

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The image, posted to a popular local Facebook group, appeared to refer to people being reported or fined for failing to adhere to social distancing rules.

“All around the world, this seems like one big, tyrannic system just falling into place all over the earth right now. It shouldn’t be like that,” Friesen said in an interview.

“In the (United) States, they’re protesting it like crazy because they’re against lockdowns … There’s protests popping up everywhere there. They feel like their freedoms are being absolutely dismantled,” he said.

“Frankly, I agree with them, that our freedoms are being dismantled. We need to look into things like that. We need to make sure our freedoms aren’t at risk here.”

Governments around the world have imposed restrictions on businesses and public gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Countries that failed to sufficiently curb the virus saw their health care systems overwhelmed.