(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Troy Gillard

4-3 vote

Sylvan Lake council defeats face coverings bylaw at 1st reading

Dec 4, 2020 | 3:35 PM

Sylvan Lake town council has defeated a face coverings bylaw for the community.

At a special meeting held Wednesday, council voted 4-3 to defeat first reading of a bylaw mandating the wearing of face coverings in all Town owned and operated facilities. They also voted 4-3 against allowing private local businesses with their own face covering requirements to register and receive bylaw enforcement through Municipal Enforcement Officers.

Town council received well over 100 submissions from the public ahead of their meeting with about two-thirds opposed to having a bylaw.

Mayor Sean McIntyre says council’s vote came down to two main issues – jurisdiction and enforcement.

“In Canada, the responsibility and authority over health remains with the provinces.” he explained. “As municipalities we don’t employ doctors or virologists to help guide these decisions but certainly the province does.”

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McIntyre, who voted in favour of passing first reading, says while he is “definitely concerned” about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Sylvan Lake (70 active cases as of Thursday) it shouldn’t be up to municipalities to take up the province’s responsibility when it comes to mandates.

He also explained that there were concerns over the Town’s ability to enforce a municipal face coverings bylaw.

“We are currently down two members in our Municipal Enforcement department, which for a community our size is very significant,” he noted. “What we heard from both our legal representation, as well as our own staff, was that we do not have the appropriate resources to enforce a bylaw, even in a limited number of cases, which by extension means we definitely would not have the resources to enforce a bylaw over a broad spectrum.”

“I hoped to do what was necessary to protect the community,” said Councillor Jas Payne, who voted in favour of the bylaw. “I was not looking for ways to limit rights or strip individual freedoms, but rather to serve a public that lives with the fear each day that one of their loved ones is next to be infected.”

Councillor Megan Hanson said she encourages mask wearing and does so herself, but voted against the bylaw citing the concerns over jurisdiction and enforcement.

“We as local councillors are not doctors, scientists or lawyers. Because of this we consulted a legal team who recommended against the bylaw as presented, as it could pit businesses against one another. Our community is already divided and more of that is the last thing we need right now,” she explained, adding, “in the over 100 emails we received while considering this bylaw not a single one of them came from a business who was looking for additional support enforcing their current masking policies.”

“I am very active in the area and, since the last set of restrictions were put in place, I have seen a marked difference in the people voluntarily donning masks,” shared Councillor Graham Parsons, who voted against first reading. “From what I see, over 95 percent of people are doing their part and I do feel confident that we will come out the other end successfully with cooperation and not legislation.”

Mayor McIntyre noted businesses seeking help with enforcement of their own face covering regulations can call RCMP, who would enforce the Trespass Act.

He said while there is currently no community-wide mandate in Sylvan Lake, the province has made it mandatory for them to be worn in schools and churches. He also highlighted other provincial mandates such as reduced seating capacity in restaurants and retail businesses.

McIntyre is encouraging people looking to have a broader mask mandate in the community to let the province know how they are feeling. He says he has reached out to MLA Devin Dreeshen and the province’s minister of Municipal Affairs about the matter.

He says the Town of Sylvan Lake remains consistent with its messaging to the community regarding COVID-19.

“We are encouraging people to be kind to each other and patient and understanding. The virus is what’s causing the friction between people, and we need to be respectful to everyone and follow the health information we’ve been repeating – stay home if you’re sick, physical distance between you and someone who’s not form your family, wear a mask when distancing is not possible or where it’s required, please do not participate in (indoor) social gatherings, keep outdoor social gatherings to under 10, and, of course, wash and sanitize your hands regularly.”

McIntyre says they’ve been hearing reports of frontline business employees being abused by members of the public who didn’t want to comply with face covering rules on those properties, and that’s not acceptable.

“We need to be mindful of each other’s health, and also mindful of each other as people and to respect people and be kind. This whole situation with COVID is negatively affecting everyone and the last thing we need is to make it more difficult on each other by being abusive.”