(The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

time to mask up?

City council to debate mask bylaw Monday

Aug 13, 2020 | 6:52 PM

Red Deer city council is set to debate whether to make the wearing of face coverings in public spaces in the city mandatory.

At their meeting on Monday, council will potentially consider all three readings of a bylaw that if approved would take effect August 31.

The proposed bylaw would make face coverings mandatory on transit vehicles and become more widespread if the city reaches or exceeds 25 cases per 100,000 people.

Administration is recommending approval of all three readings, though should council not approve the bylaw as is, the recommendation is to at least pass a transit face covering bylaw.

As of August 13, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Strathcona County and Banff have all implemented bylaws related to masking.

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City administration is proposing that Red Deer’s bylaw cover transit vehicles, indoor public places and in public vehicles.

Additional areas may include enclosed publicly accessible buildings (publicly or privately owned) and other vehicles such as taxis.

Children under nine years of age would be exempt from the requirement, putting Red Deer in line with the province’s mandatory masking rules for school re-entry (grades four and up).

“The decision to recommend mandatory face coverings on City Transit is based on conversation with department leadership, operators, riders, and other Transit services in other communities,” the administration report to council reads. “While many health and safety measures have been implemented for Transit already, at peak times (and on specific routes outside of peak times), it is not always possible to maintain two metres of physical distancing.”

As for public places and vehicles, it goes on to say that increasing evidence shows wearing a face covering is an important added measure in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

“[This bylaw is] recognizing that people without symptoms may be infectious and that there is a higher risk for transmission in indoor settings,” it reads, “This has led to provincial, national and international public health organizations recommending face covering use, particularly in public and crowded settings where physical distancing may be more difficult or not possible.

“As this is currently a divisive issue, there are perceptional and political risks to any approach implemented by The City of Red Deer,” the report concludes. “The recommendations outlined herein are grounded firmly in the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other public health experts from across the country and is consistent with what other similar sized Alberta municipalities have implemented.”

This week, the City of Edmonton stopped giving out exemption cards just five days after launch, citing concerns of abuse.

The Red Deer city council agenda report does not mention any type of exemption card program.

Failure to comply would come with a $50 fine.

As of August 13, Red Deer (population: 101,002 [2019 Municipal Census]) has 10 active cases of COVID-19.