City councillors are not saying exactly what they are thinking about provincial lifting of health orders, but signal an initial reluctance to step in.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The province has announced a timetable to remove most COVID-19 restrictions and city council is signalling it may be reluctant to bring in local rules to replace them.
Premier Jason Kenney called the schedule – which ended the restrictions exemptions program at midnight Tuesday, ends masking in schools on Feb. 13 and changes other business capacity levels this month – a “careful and prudent plan to move from a pandemic stance to return to our normal lives.”
Critics charge that the move is politically motivated, or a response to protests in Ottawa, Coutts and towns throughout Alberta, including the southeast.
But, Kenney says the peak of Omicron cases was three weeks ago and that cases are now decreasing.
“We’ve always sought to avoid overwhelming the health system while minimizing the damaging impact of restrictions on the broader health of our society,” he said, but warned, “if the trends reverse themselves, we may have to pause measures.”
Critics, such at New Democrat Leader Rachel Notley pointed to reports of infighting in the UCP caucus, and said any such move to alter orders shouldn’t be politically motivated.
Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president Guy Smith pointed to the government’s “open for summer” plan in 2021, saying in a release, “We’ve already seen that lifting all restrictions and pretending the pandemic is over doesn’t work.”
Mayors in Calgary and Edmonton have made overtones that local bylaws could stand in place of provincial measures that are lifted, while Premier Jason Kenney may limit the authority of cities to act within changes to the Municipal Government Act.
Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark told the News this week she would not comment on her position on potentially enacting local measures before evaluating the province’s plan of action.
The province lifted restrictions for the general public outside of seniors care facilities in the summer of 2021, but reimposed them in September after weeks of sharply rising case numbers related to the Delta variant.
At that point city councillors were in initial discussions to re-instate a local mask bylaw, which they had done as cases worsened in late 2020.
At a special meeting in late 2020 council voted 6-3 in favour of requiring masks in all indoor public spaces, but the province followed with an Alberta-wide mask mandate later in the week.
As such, the city’s bylaw was allowed to expire the following spring since it was similar to, and was superseded by, the provincial order still in place.
“I’m proud to have supported it, and there was a need for us to be leaders to protect citizens,” said Coun. Robert Dumanowski on Thursday before the provincial announcement, adding that council may be reluctant to take that step again.
“There is just so much fluidity and dynamics with COVID that we need to be guided by the Chief Medical Officer of Health. There will be lots of pivots that a municipality just can’t be expected to contemplate.”
Former Mayor Ted Clugston argued it wasn’t the city’s responsibility to make rules regarding health matters, and was roundly criticized for the stance.
Current Coun. Cassi Hider said council should use the guidance and direction of the province in decision making.
“I do not feel that it would be in anyone’s best interest if municipalities start having different mandates,” she said, but added, “This will all depend on numbers and hospital intake as well.”
Coun. Shila Sharps said medical opinion and the local situation should be the ultimate consideration, but it may be difficult for the city to bring in rules that would be followed.
“I do think that if the premier removes all restrictions, it’s going to be incredibly difficult locally to implement anything,” she said.
In Medicine Hat, anti-restriction protestors drove through the city blaring horns and waiving flags in apparent solidarity with convoy and blockade actions in Ottawa at Coutts.
Two dozen Hatters protested outside local school board offices last week while others made their way inside Eagle Butte High School demanding an end to masking for students.
Earlier Tuesday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced that vaccine verification program would end next weekend, while Quebec also altered its restrictions.
The local medical community has argued measures like capacity limits on businesses or the use of restriction exemption program are to keep the deadly disease from spreading among the unvaccinated people who are more at risk of severe outcomes.
Medicine Hat emergency medicine chief Dr. Paul Parks says the premier’s framing of restrictions as “damaging” shows a bias against actions that have worked.
“If the premier removes the health protections, I can only hope he is doing so on sound scientific advice and objective data,” he wrote in a response to News query.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said it was pleased with the plan, but argued work-at-home and early last call at bars would last the month.
“This is a step toward recovery and a new phase for Alberta small businesses,” said spokesperson Annie Dormouth.
