COVID-19: Saskatoon investigates gathering size limits because province won’t – Saskatoon
Saskatoon city councillors wish to know if they will implement gathering measurement limits to cease the unfold of COVID-19 — as a result of the Saskatchewan government gained’t.
“That is unprecedented. It’s by far a lot better for the provincial authorities to implement gathering sizes,” Mayor Charlie Clark stated.
“The truth that we’re the one jurisdiction that doesn’t have gathering measurement restrictions — even Alberta does — it doesn’t make sense to me.”
Clark proposed a movement, throughout Monday’s governance and priorities committee assembly, that fees the town administration to research if and the way the town can impose gathering measurement restrictions.
It handed, with seven votes in favour and 4 in opposition to.
Clark had beforehand written to Saskatchewan well being minister Paul Merriman on Oct. 1 asking for a public well being order to restrict gathering sizes. On Oct. 7, the town acquired the reply.
“The province has indicated that they won’t be implementing (gathering measurement restrictions) presently,” Pamela Goulden-McLeod, the town’s director of emergency operations, acknowledged.
She then added “the (metropolis’s COVID-19 response) framework and medical well being officers point out there’s nonetheless a requirement for gathering restrictions in Saskatoon.”
The framework, which the council adopted in September, is a tiered classification of the menace COVID-19 poses to residents, as decided by Saskatchewan Well being Authority medical well being officers. They’ve decided the illness at the moment poses a excessive threat and so the framework directs the town to request a restrict on gathering sizes from the provincial authorities.
It doesn’t present any steerage on what to do if the provincial authorities doesn’t hear.
In response to a query from Coun. Sarina Gersher, Goulden-McLeod clarified the recommendation from well being officers utilized to the town typically and that they didn’t get into the specifics of whether or not it will solely apply to metropolis services.
Quickly after, the committee broke for almost 20 minutes of personal authorized recommendation from metropolis solicitor Cindy Yelland.
Coun. Bev Dubois appeared to reference the recommendation throughout the debate, when she acknowledged “we heard from the town solicitor that no different municipalities, to her data, in Canada, have put by way of a bylaw of this kind and have had it coincide or have it accepted by the provincial authorities.”
Ward 10 Coun. Zach Jeffries replied by saying different cities aren’t grappling with the problem as a result of they don’t need to.
“We’ve the worst scenario and nil steerage,” he stated, referring to the provincial authorities.
“And that’s why no different municipalities in Canada are having to take any motion or have these discussions, as a result of they’re not being pressured to attributable to an abdication of management.”
Ward 4’s Troy Davies and Ward 5’s Randy Donauer acknowledged they weren’t supporting the movement as a result of they believed voting it by way of would confuse residents concerning the position and authority held by the town versus that held by the provincial authority.
“We don’t have any accountability for well being, the province does, whether or not we prefer it or not,” Donauer stated.
“And whether or not we agree with their selections or not. It’s as much as the minister of well being to do this stuff.”
The movement handed with seven votes to 4. Coun. Hill and Dubois additionally voted in opposition to.
The administration will report again at a later date.
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