Airdrie City Council has voted to prepare a mandatory mask bylaw that may be implemented down the road.

Essentially what it means is that Council supports the idea of a mandatory mask bylaw but feels it's premature at this time.

Mayor Peter Brown said he decided to call Tuesday's special council meeting after the City of Calgary voted to adopt a mandatory mask bylaw because he felt Airdrie should at least have the conversation, especially due to the proximity of the two cities.

Since Mayor Brown called the meeting last week, the City of Airdrie received almost 400 email responses from the community. He said the response was almost an even split with people for and against mandatory masks, with only a handful of respondents in between.

The City received 209 responses (55 per cent) in favour of making masks mandatory and 171 opposed (45 per cent).

Sharon Pollyck, Director CAO’s Office, said the number of responses demonstrates the passion for the topic within the community, as well as the divisive nature of it.

Pollyck presented a report to council that included information on what the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto have decided when it comes to mandatory masks.

Council was asked to direct staff to prepare a bylaw mandating the wearing of masks in public places that would be immediately implemented if the City of Airdrie should enter the provincial 'Enhanced' status.

The motion was carried by a unanimous vote. A proposed bylaw will come back before Airdrie City Council for review at the next regular meeting on August 17.

Currently, the City of Airdrie is 'Open' status. Alberta Health Services decides when an area needs to move into either 'Watch' or 'Enhanced' status and will notify municipalities when their status changes. Further details on each status as laid out by the province is as follows:

Open:

  • low level of risk, no additional restrictions in place
  • less than 50 active cases per 100,000

Watch:

  • the province is monitoring the risk and discussing with local government(s) and other community leaders the possible need for additional health measures
  • at least 10 active cases and more than 50 active cases per 100,000

Enhanced:

  • risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread
  • informed by local context

According to the most up to date statistics from the province, Airdrie has 25 active cases of COVID-19 while 53 people have recovered.

You can view the full two-hour council meeting by clicking HERE.

 

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