By Shaun Penner

Bylaw C-1426

City committee rejects sending mask bylaw for council debate

Aug 31, 2021 | 2:00 PM

The City of Grande Prairie’s Protective and Social Services Committee has voted down a motion to bring back the Mandatory Mask (Face Covering) Bylaw to City Council for debate at next week’s meeting.

The motion was made during Tuesday’s committee meeting by Councillor Eunice Friesen, but was defeated by no votes from Mayor Jackie Clayton and Councillor Yad Minhas.

The fourth councillor on the committee, Kevin O’Toole, was absent from the meeting and did not vote.

Friesen says she wanted to bring back the bylaw for discussion, after council voted to let it lapse back in January of 2021, after it was first brought in three months prior to that following the active case threshold being reached in the area.

The bylaw was ultimately lapsed as the province had instituted a province-wide order, making the city’s policy redundant.

“The general sentiment of those who were opposed to (the city’s bylaw in January) was that we could always implement it again if we need to. Well, here we are, and we need to,” Friesen told committee Tuesday, while recommending the bylaw be brought in for a period of 90 days, not when it reaches or drops below a certain threshold.

“While we would rather have the province make this decision, it doesn’t mean that we get to sit back and wait for them to do it, when our direct community is being so heavily impacted.”

This comes following a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the city and surrounding area, that has brought with it a rise in hospitalizations at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital due to the illness.

The rise in hospitalizations for COVID-19 led Alberta Health Services to begin delaying elective surgeries at the QEII to create additional COVID-19 bed spaces. AHS also made the decision this past weekend to divert nine patients from the QEII to other North Zone hospitals as the need for COVID-19 bed spaces grew.

However, Mayor Clayton says at this point, the idea of wearing a face covering when out in public spaces should be left up to the individual, not a mandate from the municipality.

“I think the fact is that we, as a community, have been given that right to choose, and lets keep that right to choose,” she said. “We are not better informed than the healthcare experts of the province. The province has not come back with Dr. Hinshaw saying ‘yes, let’s re-instate masks again.”

Clayton adds her feeling is that the majority in the community do not want masks to be mandated again

“If people choose to wear a mask, wear masks. But let’s support each other’s choices. If you choose not to, let’s support the person who chooses not to.”

In closing, Friesen felt that even if a mask mandate were to be brought in, residents would still be making a personal choice if they did not want to wear a mask, citing the example of utilizing curbside pickup if businesses required mask use inside.

“People can make the decisions that are the best for them if they don’t want to wear a mask during the 90-day period.”

The committee did approve a motion from Councillor Friesen at Tuesday meeting, however, to have administration bring back a public information campaign plan about the public health measures recommended by the province to reduce transmission in the community.

That campaign would include the encouragement of voluntary mask wearing in indoor public spaces, and to encourage vaccination for those who are eligible.

As of August 29, there were 476 active cases of COVID-19 in the City of Grande Prairie, while there were 190 in the County.