The St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce is in support of city council’s decision to mandate the wearing of face masks or coverings inside public spaces.
The chamber vocalized its support in a letter given to council on Monday, a day before councillors were set to vote on the bylaw.
Councillors also received the results of a survey conducted by the chamber over two days. The survey, which was circulated through email, social media and newsletters, received 1,897 responses from July 30 to 31
Jennifer McCurdy, president and CEO of the chamber, said the board decided to support the bylaw after viewing the results and hearing from business owners and residents directly.
“It would be just crushing if businesses have to close their doors again. So anything that we can do to make sure the businesses stay open is number one importance.”
The chamber’s support did come with several conditions for the bylaw, including removing the onus on the businesses to provide masks, and that businesses can still choose to serve a customer if they are not wearing masks.
McCurdy said she feels confident their concerns were addressed within the bylaw that council ultimately approved on Tuesday, including a clear definition of "public space."
“Our biggest concern was we wanted to make sure that the bylaw was written so it didn't add on any additional costs, any additional pressures to the businesses because they're already stressed.”
Survey results
The survey was geared directly to businesses, but the chamber decided to open it up to residents as well “because residents are the customers of business,” McCurdy said.
Respondents were asked three questions: whether they would be in favour of a mask mandate, what conditions were important to them, and if they would be more or less likely to visit local businesses and other public places with the bylaw in place.
The survey results indicated 63 per cent of respondents were in favour of St. Albert instituting mandatory face coverings in all indoor public places.
Just over half – 59 per cent – of business owners and managers were in favour of the mandate, with 41 per cent opposed. Employees seemed to be more supportive, with 67 per cent in favour.
Residents of St. Albert who do not work in the city made up a bulk majority of the total votes cast, with 67 per cent of the 1,102 respondents in support.
Meanwhile, just 39 per cent of residents of surrounding areas who do business in St. Albert said they were in favour – 61 per cent said they were opposed.
Business owners and managers said having the onus on the customer to comply, and not on the business to enforce, was very important to them with the bylaw.
Making sure people knew they were still expected to physical distance and not rely solely on masks was another key condition.
A majority of residents said they would be more likely to visit local businesses and other public places with a mandate in place, according to the survey results.
To help businesses prepare, the City of St. Albert and the Chamber have published an information toolkit on mandated masks online.
Businesses weigh in
Fernando Darakchian, manager at Cranky's Bike Shop in St. Albert, said the store wasn't waiting for the mask mandate to take effect on Saturday – they started requiring customers to wear masks on Thursday.
"So far, we don't have any issues. Everyone's wearing their own mask, and if they aren't, we'll provide one for them," Darakchian said.
Cranky's has another store location in Edmonton, and it made more sense to make masks mandatory in both locations at the same time, he said.
"The mask will protect us, and it protects them. In the end, everybody wins," he said. "That way we can have staff working in a safe environment, and we can provide a safe environment for customers."
Carmen Bokenfohr, owner of Concept Jewelry and Design, said she didn't have a chance to take the chamber's survey before it closed, but she is supportive of mandatory masks if it prevents businesses from having to shut down again.
Keeping two metres distance and sanitizing hasn't been a problem for the small store, but now with masks being 'mandatory,' she said she has a few outstanding questions.
"If somebody comes in here, are they going to ticket me if I'm sitting here alone by myself without a mask? We all just need to know what the policies and procedures are."
Ann Brady, owner of Toast, said she hopes the bylaw will help prevent a surge in cases, but she's skeptical about it.
"I think it's unlikely that every person who comes in will have sanitizer with them and will religiously sanitize their hands before they put their masks back on. And at the end of the day, what is to be accomplished by it?" she asked, noting all the health procedures the restaurant has already put in place to keep everyone safe.
"I honestly don't know if it's the right thing or not. But I guess the powers that be know, so at the end of the day, we'll do what we're made to do anyway."
Michael Riske, owner of Wellness Within on Riel Drive, said the health centre already required clients and staff to wear masks due to provincial health guidelines when they reopened. It was met with "very mixed reviews" because it wasn't mandated by the city, and a lot of clients were upset, he said.
A bylaw should help with that, he said, and it made sense to have St. Albert follow suit with Edmonton because "we're basically connected." But he said he isn't sure if a mandate was the change that was needed to happen to prevent more cases.
"I don't know if there's much of a choice, to be honest. I don't know if I'm actually a pro-mask person myself. But numbers were going up, and I don't know if what we were doing at the time was working. So change had to happen."
Mandatory Mask Survey Results - FINAL by Brittany Gervais on Scribd
Letter to Council - Mandatory Face Coverings by Brittany Gervais on Scribd
