St. Albert city councillors voted Monday to draft a bylaw that would mandate mask-wearing on public transit and in city-owned facilities.
Last week, Calgary and Edmonton councils voted to make similar moves. Mayor Cathy Heron called a special council meeting Monday morning to discuss following suit. Councillors voted 5-1 (Coun. Sheena Hughes against, Coun. Ken MacKay absent) in favour of drafting a bylaw, which they will review on Aug. 4.
Recommendations for the bylaw, presented by Coun. Jacquie Hansen, would mandate face coverings on public transit and all indoor city-owned facilities. The bylaw could also include fines for those in violation, and would be subject to review every 60 days.
Exemptions would likely be permitted for vulnerable populations and residents who cannot wear masks, but it's still unclear whether proof would be needed to grant it.
Masks may not be mandatory in Alberta, but Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane and Banff are all discussing mandatory masks at council meetings this week as well.
"It was not an easy call on my part, but I thought our public deserved that we have this conversation so we know where we stand," Heron said.
Rates may be low in St. Albert right now but that could change "on a dime," Heron said, pointing to the surge of 100 confirmed cases seen in Brooks over three days from the JBS meatpacking plant outbreak in April.
"If we were to get an outbreak at the (Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission building), we'd be in significant trouble in St. Albert. Just because we don't have a high number of cases now, doesn't mean that can't happen," she said.
Hughes asked Aaron Giesbrecht, city manager of policing services, about the concern that residents could start doing community policing on face masks, potentially pitting people against each other.
"It looks to me like this is more of a signatory bylaw versus an enforceable bylaw," she said.
Giesbrecht said mandating face masks would present some challenges to enforce, particularly around exemptions.
"You're not wrong in that. If we don't write in certain proof of exemption or certificates, it could become a discretionary matter," Giesbrecht said.
Mandating face masks without a bylaw would place the city on "shaky" legal ground, said David Leflar, legal and legislative services director. If someone should challenge the city's authority, a legal case could be time-consuming.
"There's a huge amount of case law that would have to be reviewed," he said.
Symbolism over science
Percy Janke, emergency operations centre (EOC) director of emergency management, said some scientific studies suggest medical and non-medical face-coverings prevent infection of COVID-19, though research at the moment is "somewhat challenging and not complete."
"The World Health Organization (WHO) states, at present time, the widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence," Janke said.
"That said, regardless, the (WHO) recommends that government should encourage general public use of masks in specific situations."
The biggest concern in doing this would be if people perceived face-masks as a replacement for social distancing and hand hygiene. Breathing difficulties and skin irritation, self-contamination from non-medical masks, and impacts on vulnerable populations who cannot wear masks, are other concerns.
Potential benefits include reducing potential exposure before a person develops symptoms, reducing the stigma around wearing face masks, and making people feel they have a role to play to stop the spread, he said.
Janke said the city currently has an active case rate of 2.9 cases per 100,000 residents. There are currently two active cases in St. Albert with a population of around 66,000 people. If an area has more than 50 active cases per 100,000 residents, the province would then step in.
St. Albert has maintained a relatively low case rate up until this point with no face mask mandates in place regionally, Hughes said.
"Why would we care what's going on beyond our boundaries when obviously we can effectively manage it within our boundaries?" Hughes asked. After a few moments of silence, Hughes said the city should look at other countries who put mandatory mask coverings in place. In Japan, COVID-19 case numbers have started to rise despite the mandate, she said.
"We should only be imposing restrictions when its absolutely necessary," she said. "There's no data to justify this."
Coun. Wes Brodhead said regardless of the science or rational debate, there's a sense that the use of masks "contributes to the health and safety of the community."
"A large portion of the community wants this to happen ... the fear and anxiety out there is real," Brodhead said.
Hansen said the city would be naive to think St. Albert's low case numbers mean the community is out of the woods.
"If we didn't pass a mandatory mask bylaw, we're saying we're immune to this disease. And we are absolutely not immune to it, and it's only going to get worse."
Coun. Ray Watkins said he'd rather err on the side of caution and ask for mandatory masks on transit and public facilities.
"This is sending a symbol that we're trying to keep a healthy community, so I'm willing to support it and see what bylaw comes up with," he said.
Coun. Natalie Joly agreed it would be a symbolic bylaw, but said that doesn't make it less important.
"We are not a bubble in the region, we know that 80 per cent of our residents work in Edmonton ... so making this bylaw about civic facilities, it is symbolic, but that symbolism has meaning."
Though contradictory information on the effectiveness of face masks exists, Heron said she believes it's better "to be safe than sorry" with a mandate.
"I would much prefer mandatory masks over a mandatory shutdown," she said.
The city is holding off on decisions around other indoor public spaces like retail stores until they receive input from the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce.
