By Sheldon Spackman

Motion Denied

Rocky council defeats motion to explore mandatory masking bylaw

Dec 7, 2020 | 4:48 PM

Despite rising case numbers of COVID-19 in the community, Rocky Mountain House town council has chosen not to consider a mandatory face coverings bylaw at this time.

The decision was made during a regular meeting of council on Dec. 1, following a motion from Mayor Tammy Burke that administration bring forward a proposed mask bylaw for council’s consideration on Dec. 8.

“We need to stop the spread,” said Burke. “That’s becoming more and more apparent.”

Councillor Jason Alderson, however, felt that following current AHS health guidelines would be sufficient.

“For me, I think we’re legally obliged to follow the AHS mandate, so we can’t reduce that factor, that’s just a reality and thus the course we’re currently taking,” he explained. “My opinion is that we should just stick to the current AHS mandate and not go above and beyond that.”

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Burke noted other Alberta communities that have recently passed masking bylaws, such as Whitecourt, Edson, and Banff.

“There’s many communities our size and a little bit bigger that have also followed this and I believe that they all have a sunset clause,” remarked Burke. “So it’s not a bylaw that’s going to last forever, it’s just a temporary measure.”

Councillor Merrin Fraser said her biggest concern revolved around the inability for effective contact tracing if someone who was sick went out into the community without wearing a mask.

“The problem is, we have lost the contact tracing battle,” said Fraser. “If people are masking for the 15-20 minutes they are in that store, that takes that store off of that closure list if that person does test positive for COVID. This 100 per cent stops that business from having to shut down and isolate all of its employees.”

Councillor Jason Alderson disagreed with that assessment.

“Councillor Fraser has suggested that the spread is because somebody didn’t wear a mask,” he explained. “I’m suggesting that it is because they did wear one, because they were sick and they felt that a mask was actually safe guarding from somebody else getting sick. I just don’t believe that’s the case. That it’s a false sense of security.”

Burke reiterated that the community’s case numbers have more than doubled and she’s very concerned that if nothing is done, another lockdown will occur and shut down the economy.

“We also have a huge influx of workers coming into our community in January,” noted Burke. “I would like to see us hopefully get our numbers back under control and if this will help us do this, to me, it’s worth a shot to try it.”

Burke’s motion to consider a mandatory masking bylaw for the Town of Rocky Mountain House on Dec. 8 was defeated by a 4-3 vote. Dissenting votes came from councilors Jason Alderson, Dave Auld, Randy Brown, and Len Phillips.