By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Grande Prairie City Council meeting highlights

Jan 12, 2021 | 5:30 AM

Request for COVID-19 related information from AHS

Some members of council are slamming what they call a lack of transparency and information from Alberta Health Services in a letter AHS sent in response to some pandemic questions from the city.

Members of City Council had asked about getting weekly updates on ICU beds being used to treat COVID-19 patients at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and weekly updates on the number of people being treated for COVID-19 at the hospital.

The City also asked to have updated modelling scenarios made public April 8, and updated numbers on overdoses and suicides related to the pandemic.

The letter said ICU bed use changes too often for weekly updates to be any good, that data on individual hospitalizations is not made public, that Alberta Health does the modelling not Alberta Health Services, and that suicide trend numbers are only available up to June of 2019.

Council has passed a motion asking for an Alberta Health Services representative to join a council meeting and answer specific questions about COVID-19 and what is happening in the Grande Prairie area prior to January 31.

In a rare move, Council also defeated a motion to accept the letter for information. Such motions are usually passed routinely.

Public Lands bylaw changes

Council approved changes to the Use of Public Lands bylaw.

The changes include making it easier to remove encampments from public land.

Councillor Dylan Bressey voted in favour of this but was uncomfortable doing so because the people in these camps have had what he calls “very hard circumstances.” At the same time, he says he is confident responders will deal with this with “compassion and wisdom.”