BANFF – Banff’s outdoor mask bylaw has been lifted and the indoor mask mandate ended on Canada Day (July 1).
In what is a highly contentious and divisive issue, Banff town council voted to immediately ditch the outdoor mask mandate on Banff Avenue on June 30 and to follow the province of Alberta’s recommendation to lift the indoor mask bylaw on July 1 to coincide with Premier Jason Kenney’s Open for Summer plan when all COVID-19 restrictions are removed.
Only councillors Chip Olver and Peter Poole wanted to see the indoor masking bylaw remain in place to better protect the community, arguing the more contagious delta variant, which exists in nearby Calgary, could arrive in Banff as tourists descend here.
“My main reason for that is to protect our frontline staff and the rest of the residents in our community from the spread of COVID-19,” said Coun. Olver during a special meeting of council on June 30.
“One vaccine does not offer the same protection against the delta variant as two vaccines do. A little more time to remain strong with our indoor mask bylaw could make the difference,” she added.
“People who do feel sick still have to isolate, their close contacts still have to isolate, and I think that some of our staffing is quite thin as businesses try to hire up, and this could cause closure of a business.”
Many municipalities like Jasper, Airdrie, Cochrane and Edmonton are ditching their mask bylaws, while the City of Calgary debates its mask mandate on July 5 and Canmore town council the following day on July 6.
Mayor Karen Sorensen took a swipe at Kenney and the province for putting municipalities in the position of having to deal with this divisive issue, noting Banff initially put its mask mandate in place when the province was slow to do so.
“My personal opinion is I think Alberta is moving to stage 3 too quickly, but that is not my call,” she said. “Masking has been very effective, but as we move to stage 3 and all that entails, the effectiveness of masking is minimal at best.”
Stage 3 of Alberta’s Open for Summer plan began July 1 and allows for limitless numbers for outdoor gatherings, and full occupancy in restaurants, bars, retail stores and all public and private indoor spaces.
“Even with a mask bylaw in an eating establishment, people can remove masks when they are actively eating or drinking, so table hopping with a beer in your hand will be considered actively drinking and you can remove your mask,” she said.
“When the party kitty-corner to me happens on whatever night it is, with 150 people between the house and the font yard, if there’s going to be a problem, there’s going to be a problem regardless of a mask bylaw.”
Sorensen said effective enforcement of a mask bylaw would be impossible once all provincial public health restrictions are removed.
“If we put every RCMP officer we have and every bylaw officer we have on mask bylaw enforcement, it would not come even close to being effective,” she said.
Mayor Sorensen said Banff’s front-line employees cannot be expected to enforce mask compliance, nor do they have the skill set.
“We cannot ask a 22-year-old desk clerk standing behind her desk to enforce on a non-mask wearer in the lobby where she happens to work,” she said.
“The repercussions of abuse would be too great and it is absolutely not in their job description.”
Administrative officials reported to council that mask compliance had been dwindling in recent weeks, with more people becoming combative and argumentative when told to put them on.
Banff’s municipal enforcement team had been relaxing enforcement of the outdoor mask bylaw during this current heatwave, where temperatures in Banff have smashed previous records and soared into the mid-30s Celsius.
“There’s been resistance,” said Silvio Adamo, the Town of Banff’s director of emergency management.
In the lead-up to the vote, council received 72 letters from members of the community representing different views on contentious issue, including a well-respected local family doctor who did not want the indoor mask bylaw lifted just yet.
Dr. Vamini Selvanandan, past president of the Bow Valley Primary Care Network and chair elect of the Canadian Public Health Association, said vaccination rates among the 20-39 year olds are still low and children under the age of 12 are not protected at all.
“Removing restrictions in a stepwise manner rather than all at once will allow us to more readily recognize adverse trends in infection rates and make minor adjustments without having to resort to severe lockdowns,” she wrote to Banff council.
The Town of Banff’s emergency coordination centre is using a population count of 9,500, which officials say puts the first dose vaccination rate at about 95 per cent and the second dose rate at about 27 per cent.
Town of Banff officials say about one per cent of Albertans continue to get their second dose every day, which is promising news.
“We still have a ways to go in terms of full vaccination for our community,” said Alison Gerrits, who sits the Town of Banff’s emergency coordination centre.
As of July 1, face coverings will continue to be mandatory in some limited and specific settings including acute care facilities, continuing-care facilities, public transit, taxis,and commercial ride-sharing vehicles.
