DIDSBURY - Town council has passed a motion calling on the provincial government to enact rural-specific COVID-19 restrictions different from those applying to large urban centres.
The motion -- passed at the Jan. 12 council meeting -- calls for a letter to be sent to the premier “requesting all restrictions be regionally varied in accordance with regional data.”
Mayor Rhonda Hunter says applying the same restrictions in rural communities as in large urban centres is not fair for local businesses and the community-at-large.
“We don’t want to be divisive and we want to acknowledge that there are people who are sick and people who have lost lives and family members, but rural is different,” said Hunter. “We are not special, we are just different. Rural communities can operate with vast amounts of space and smaller businesses without a lot of gathering in huge numbers.
“Some of these decisions (regarding restrictions) appear to have been made arbitrarily. Our numbers in some rural areas are zero or two.”
As of Sunday, the Didsbury local geographic area -- which includes Carstairs, Cremona and south Mountain View County -- has had 132 COVID cases since the pandemic began with 18 listed as active. No deaths have been recorded.
Coun. Erhard Poggemiller said rural communities should be lobbying the provincial government to lift restrictions in rural communities that have had only a few COVID cases. He called for a letter to be sent to the premier.
“Rural Alberta is in a lot better situation than the large urban centres are and I think a case needs to be made (for rural specific restrictions),” said Poggemiller. “Our performance is not being correctly judged.
“I think as the smaller communities ban together then maybe (the government) would give some consideration to letting some of the businesses open up.
“Some of the ones that are closed, like hair salons, have not had COVID problems. I think we really need to step up and say what we think about those kinds of things. We are going to lose some of our small businesses because they just can’t pay their bills.”
Coun. Curt Engel said he supported sending a letter.
“I agree completely with Erhard on that," said Engel. "I think it is time we start lobbying. We have to look at the psychological and mental impact of what is happening.
“I think we can find ways to have these facilities operate in a safe and controlled environment. I would support the writing of a letter.”
Also during the Jan. 12 council meeting, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper told councillors he and a number of other rural MLAs plan to bring the matter of possible rural-specific restrictions up with the premier.
“If there are places in the province that have zero cases they should be celebrated because they are obviously doing the fundamentals well and as a result I believe there should be less restrictions than places were there are 1,500 cases per 100,000,” said Cooper.
