Parker sponsoring motion to repeal City mask bylaw

By Tim Kalinowski on June 25, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

With summer approaching, and second dose vaccinations reaching 33 per cent in the province of Alberta, the provincial government feels it is time to lift the province-wide mandatory masking order which has been in place since last fall as of July 1.
Coun. Ryan Parker, who is co-sponsoring a motion on the issue which is scheduled to come before city council next Tuesday, says it is time for the City of Lethbridge to follow suit and repeal its own local Temporary Mandatory Face Covering bylaw.
“It’s very important we get the repeal of the current masking bylaw in place leading up to July 1,” says Parker. “We want to make sure we don’t cause confusion and division in the community, because, if we have the existing bylaw in place (after that), you are going to have a lot of people will be shamed, a lot of people will be angry, a lot of people will be tired and sick of it. I think it is important we follow the guidelines of Alberta Health on this one.”
Parker acknowledges there are still individuals in the community who feel strongly a local masking bylaw should stay in place regardless of what the province decides. Whatever the reasons for that may be, ongoing anxiety about COVID-19 variants, general distrust of the province, or simple contrariness, Parker says life has to return to normal some time. People have gotten their vaccines, he says, people have tried their best in most cases to follow public health orders, and people have sacrificed many of the group and family activities they love in order to get a handle on this pandemic, and they have largely succeeded.
It’s time, Parker says.
“I am hoping we would get three readings done on Tuesday,” he confirms, “and in a perfect world I would like to have everyone on city council sign this resolution so it’s unanimous. It’s very important we make this unanimous for us to have some closure and kind of bookend what has happened with this pandemic in our province and our community.
“I don’t want this to be a divisive issue,” Parker adds. “I want this to be a matter of compromise, and closure, and moving forward in our community.”
To ensure that city council will still be keeping an eye on local case counts, and watching carefully for any potential spikes, Parker has written into the proposed repealing bylaw a clause which states if at any time local public health authorities express their concerns about such things council will revisit the issue and could reinstate the mandatory masking bylaw again.
“Within my resolution, I have one clause in there where the numbers hit a critical level again, as advised by our local health authority, we, as council, have the power to bring back another masking bylaw, if that happens,” Parker confirms. “So it would be covered in case something would happen, and I think that is important, and will build support among the community and hopefully other members of council. I think local health authorities are also in support of this resolution as well as it is written.”
In order to pass three readings of the bylaw in one session all councillors will have to unanimously agree to do that. If the first two readings pass by a simple majority without unanimous consent to proceed to third reading on Tuesday, the bylaw would have to be brought back for third reading at the July 13 meeting.

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