INNISFAIL – The Town of Innisfail has quickly responded to the latest COVID restrictions announced by the provincial government by bringing back masking requirements for staff.
However, the town, as well as the Chinook’s Edge School Division, have many questions they say need to be answered and with more clarity.
On Sept. 3, Alberta became the first Canadian province to offer a financial incentive to citizens to get vaccinated. Premier Jason Kenney announced the province will pay $100 to citizens who get a first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. As well, as of today (Sept. 4), the province is making masks mandatory for all indoor public spaces and workplaces. Unvaccinated citizens are strongly recommended to limit indoor social gatherings to close contacts of only two cohort families, up to a maximum of 10 people.
The new regulations also stipulate that if employees are working on location, employees must mask for all indoor settings, except in work stations or where two-metre physical distancing or adequate physical barriers are in place.
Todd Becker, the town’s chief administrative officer, met with senior staff following the province’s announcement on Sept. 3.
He said following the long weekend on Tuesday (Sept. 7) all staff must be masked in open areas of the administration building but will be allowed to remove them within work stations. Outside the administration building, employees must wear a mask inside vehicles or any other municipal building. Becker said any employee working outside are not required to wear a mask.
As for council meetings, plexiglass barriers will be brought back to the council chamber for council members and senior staff members. As these areas are considered work stations, they won’t have to wear masks.
“But if they get up and move around the office building, they will be required to wear a mask,” said Becker.
He said citizens and media representatives coming in the administration building, including those attending council meetings, must be masked.
As for the Innisfail Rotary Pro Rodeo Parade on Sept. 4, Becker said he did not see anything in the provincial announcement that dealt with masking measures for outside events, including parades. The parade continued as planned.
“There is a lot of questions we will have. One is, what about our recreation facilities and recreation programs? But I didn’t see anything for community events,” said Becker. “What I saw was for businesses and indoors but I did not see anything at this time regarding restrictions for outdoor events.”
He said senior staff will be talking again Tuesday morning (Sept. 7) about re-establishing the Emergency Coordination Centre for future monitoring and response to the evolving COVID situation.
Meanwhile, both Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools and Chinook’s Edge School Division were also busy Friday reviewing the new COVID measures, particularly how they could be impacted. The province has said school boards will continue to be allowed to set their own masking rules for schools.
The Albertan reached out to Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools and received a short response that the school board’s senior leadership met to “discuss next steps” but there would be no immediate public statement.
However, Kurt Sacher, the superintendent of schools for Chinook’s Edge, told The Albertan, the provincial announcement was discussed at central office and the school division is gathering more information from Alberta Health to get more clarity from experts on the “best path forward.
“Because safety is our number one concern. We do have to balance safety with operational considerations and what is best for our children and our students,” said Sacher, adding the school board’s leadership team is meeting on Sept. 7. He noted there is also a board meeting on Sept. 8 when the COVID issue will again be discussed.
“And (we’re) making a decision on Wednesday and moving that information out Wednesday night or Thursday at the latest to our parent public,” said Sacher, adding the school division has heard from concerned parents on opposite sides of the masking issue.
“We’ve heard both voices. I think what we need to hear is where Alberta Health is on this matter with more clarity," he added.
“Once we have that we will meet with the board on Wednesday and move forward.”
