OLDS — Director of emergency management Brian Powell was asked last week if he had any comment about the town’s tabled mask bylaw now that COVID-19 cases in town have continued to rise.
That question was posed by Coun. Mary Jane Harper during council’s Nov. 30 meeting.
"I guess, to be clear, our position on that recommendation hasn’t changed,” Powell said.
On Nov. 25, council voted to table indefinitely a bylaw that would have made masks mandatory in all buildings owned or leased by the town as well as in “public indoor spaces” or “public vehicles.”
Councillors said they wanted to see what effect new provincial rules to curb the COVID-19 pandemic have in about three weeks’ time before deciding whether to bring the bylaw back for further consideration.
When the bylaw first came up for consideration on Nov. 23, Powell said, “we are following the recommendations of the province.
“It is not a mandated issue today that we’re aware of. It is encouraged and recommended that we look at this.”
Powell noted at that time that Olds has “a very specific demographic that is very, very vulnerable to this virus” and suggested that’s why the bylaw had been proposed.
Powell said town staff understand a bylaw to require the wearing of masks to battle COVID-19 is “contentious” and “frustrating.”
However, he added, “we’re not making the science up here. We are making the recommendations and just pursuing them; making sure that we’re providing Olds the safest community we can.”
