OLDS — As they voted to table a controversial mask bylaw, councillors begged residents to respect each other’s opinions, regardless of whether they believe in wearing masks or not.
Councillors made that plea during a Nov. 25 special meeting called to consider the bylaw.
If passed, the bylaw, introduced Nov. 23, would have made masks mandatory in all buildings owned or leased by the town as well as in “public indoor spaces” or “public vehicles.”
However, after hearing from four speakers pro and con and discussing it themselves, council voted to table the bylaw indefinitely, saying they’d like to wait for at least three weeks to see what effect new provincial rules to curb the COVID-19 pandemic have.
Mayor Michael Muzychka noted they could bring the bylaw back at any time – even sooner than three weeks if they so chose.
Six of the seven councillors – Muzychka as well as councillors Debbie Bennett, Wanda Blatz, Mitch Thomson, Mary Anne Overwater and Heather Ryan spoke in favour of tabling the bylaw.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper’s view was a little less definitive.
“I don’t think any issue has been more divisive in our community than this particular bylaw,” said Harper.
“And I know that we’ve all had some sleepless nights about this. And as councillor Blatz has said, there is no real easy answer to everything.”
Almost all councillors echoed a point made by local veterinarian Dr. Darlene Donszelmann who decried the fact that some people are berating employees in local stores – some very young and making minimum wage -- for enforcing management’s rules regarding mask wearing.
“You know what? If you want to wear a mask then you wear a mask and that’s OK. If you don’t want to wear a mask then that’s your choice and I think that’s OK too,” Coun. Mary Anne Overwater said.
“And I don’t think you should be publicly criticized or accosted one way or another. If a store has a mandate that if you want to go into their store you have to wear a mask, then you should respect that. And if the store doesn’t, then you can still wear a mask in there. That’s OK.”
Council heard from four speakers: two supported the bylaw and two spoke against it.
The meeting lasted 54 minutes. None of the speakers were medical doctors.
When asked why that wasn’t the case, Michael Merritt, the town’s chief administrative officer said town officials did not look for a “medical expert.”
We are using the province of Alberta, the chief medical officer and AHS (Alberta Health Services) to get the medical information and advice," he wrote in an email.
Merritt said those who spoke registered to do so.
“It (was) more based on that they are residents, have a business or attend our facilities so to speak," he added.
