By Troy Gillard

Mayor says it's a "fluid situation"

Red Deer not looking to make mask wearing mandatory in public

Jul 21, 2020 | 5:06 PM

Red Deer’s mayor doesn’t see the need at this time to make mask wearing mandatory in public to prevent spread of COVID-19, but says the situation remains fluid.

United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith has written letters to the mayors of Alberta’s six largest cities, including Red Deer’s Tara Veer, asking them to adopt mandatory masking as soon as possible for enclosed workspaces and public places.

In her letter, Smith says masking on public transit, in particular, is a necessary and effective measure to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help the Alberta economy return to normal as quickly as possible.

“As the president of UNA, which represents more than 30,000 Registered Nurses, Registered Psychiatric Nurses and allied health workers, I know that our members are reminded daily of the gravity of this pandemic, the serious health consequences COVID-19 poses, and the rationale behind the effectiveness of mask wearing to suppress the spread of this dangerous new virus,” Smith wrote.

“When combined with other public health measures, masking is a key part of stopping the spread of COVID-19 and restoring Alberta’s economy without facing more avoidable tragedies or requiring an economically devastating return to lockdown,” Smith continued. “As working people, Alberta’s nurses understand and support the desire of all Albertans to get the province back to work as quickly as possible.”

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UNA notes mandatory masking in workplaces and public spaces has been implemented in other jurisdictions such as Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor, Guelph, and all Quebec municipalities, and are being seriously considered in many other Canadian municipalities.

On Tuesday, Calgary city council voted in favour of making masks mandatory in indoor public spaces. The new mask requirement will take effect on Aug. 1 and apply to all City of Calgary buildings, buses, trains, taxis, malls and grocery stores.

When it comes to Red Deer, Veer said her preference would be for the province to take the lead when it comes to mandatory masking.

“The City right now is following all the recommendations from the Chief Medical Officer of Health,” she explained. “When the premier was here on Saturday, he indicated that the province currently does not have plans for mandatory masking.

“The City of Red Deer currently doesn’t have plans for mandatory masking, but obviously we are closely following the number of cases, not just within the City of Red Deer but within the Central Zone region as well.”

Veer notes The City has been given masks by the province to hand out for free to transit users. She says the focus remains on voluntary usage but a change could come if COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise.

“It would be difficult to implement a full mandatory masking policy in public,” she suggests. “Right now, because the state of local emergency has been lifted, it would naturally beg bigger discussions about the severity of the pandemic and where we’re at and other public health measures – masking being one of them.”

Veer does admit she’s concerned about the rising number of novel coronavirus cases in Red Deer and throughout the Central Zone.

“The caseload in the region is absolutely critical to The City of Red Deer’s consideration because of the capacity issues at Red Deer (Regional) Hospital.”

Veer says she will be speaking with other local mayors this week to help ensure municipal responses across the region are in cohesion.