CANMORE – The Town of Canmore will have to wait a little longer to remove their mask bylaw.
Canmore council failed to reach a unanimous rescinding of their bylaw – which required the full support of council at third reading – and will have a special meeting of council later this week to address the bylaw.
While the majority of council voiced support, councillors Esme Comfort and Joanna McCallum expressed concern for the levels of second vaccination in the population, particularly in age groups under 39.
Though Canmore has a high rate of vaccination for the first dose, people are continuing to get vaccinated for a second shot, which is followed by the two week period to consider a person fully vaccinated.
According to provincial statistics, as of July 4 there were 78.6 per cent of people with one dose who were 12 years and older. However, it drops to 50 per cent for second doses. And while the 60 to 74 age range has 79.5 per cent and then 92.2 per cent for 75 and up, other age categories are far below.
The age group of 20 to 39 is 29.9 per cent and 12 to 19 are 31.2 per cent. The 40 to 59 age category is 53.8 per cent.
“These numbers are not supporting what we’re articulating … I’m happy we’ll all carry masks for businesses that still require them, but what about people who haven’t got their vaccine and infecting these cohorts who only have their first vaccine?,” McCallum said.
“I feel like after all this time, we’ve sort of forgotten the actual reason for wearing the mask. It’s not about protecting ourselves, but it’s about protecting other people.”
Comfort said she preferred a more cautious approach, while McCallum noted the bulk of the town’s workforce is in the demographic still receiving second doses.
“They’re not only the ones who support our economy, but they’re also the ones that generally have those kids under 12 we don’t have a vaccine for. … I’m concerned for that cohort who might be having a hard time finding a vaccination appointment without having to leave town.”
Coun. Jeff Hilstad said in speaking to pharmacies in town, there were appointments available if people were willing to “mix and match” doses between Pfizer and Moderna.
Banff town council voted to scrap their outdoor and indoor mask bylaw at a special meeting June 30.
Banff council also noted the difficulty in enforcing the bylaw with the province having stopped their backing of a mask mandate once the province reached stage three of their reopening process.
Other nearby municipalities such as Airdrie and Cochrane have ditched their mask bylaws. The City of Calgary voted July 5 to drop their bylaw, with the exception of public transit and in city buildings, while British Columbia lifted their provincial masking on July 1 and Saskatchewan has announced plans to do so on July 11.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is continuing to recommend people wear a mask while indoors with only one or no COVID-19 vaccination. However, people who were fully vaccinated could meet indoors in small groups without a mask.
The World Health Organization is continuing to urge people to wear masks when indoors in public whether they’re partially or fully vaccinated. Other countries and continents who have loosened mask restrictions have started to return to stricter public health restrictions as the Delta variant has spread.
The medical community has largely voiced opposition to the removal, particularly with the more contagious Delta variant growing in confirmed cases and a low percentage of people still not receiving their second COVID-19 vaccination.
Canmore first brought in the temporary bylaw Aug. 7 and then amended it at their Dec. 15 meeting to include further public health restrictions to protect residents.
While possibly seen as having little significance, a province mask directive reinforces a municipality’s ability to stress the importance. However, once removed, it leaves a municipality largely on its own, with only in-house resources to enforce the bylaw.
In a tourism area such as the Bow Valley, where many people are visiting from outside of the communities, they may be coming from an area without a mask bylaw and more unlikely to follow the local bylaws.
“We all need to respect each other’s situations and comfort levels. COVID is not over, but the rapid rollout of the second vaccine doses is very encouraging and it is available in the Bow Valley. … We need to have as many of us vaccinated as possible and as quickly as possible,” Coun. Vi Sanford said.
Depending on whether Canmore council rescinds their bylaw at their special meeting, council could always call a further meeting at a later date if COVID-19 cases climb to decide on further bylaws such as masking.
“Given the fact the number of cases in Canmore and in the province have been reduced significantly and given our vaccine rate is continuing to increase,” Mayor John Borrowman said. “If things change in the future, it doesn’t take much to call a special meeting and create a new bylaw to respond to a need.”
