CANMORE – The Town of Canmore says it’s working diligently behind the scenes to manage COVID-19 coronavirus from a local perspective based on provincial direction.
The mayor of Canmore said it’s hosting meetings daily to manage the influx of closures and announcements, while also trying to adequately keep the community informed while information changes hourly.
“We opened the Emergency Coordination Centre last week and the emergency management committee has been meeting twice a day – right at the beginning of the day and end of the day every day since last week and over the weekend actually,” said Canmore Mayor John Borrownman.
“Things are just changing not even daily but hourly.”
Borrowman said the Town was in talks Wednesday (March 18) to declare a state of public health emergency after Banff made its announcement Tuesday (March 17), however shortly after, the province of Alberta declared a state of public health emergency.
“As we were discussing it, the premier went online and declared the provincial state of public health emergency, so that really effectively accomplished what we would with a local declaration," Borrowman said.
"So all of the issues that we’d want to address – big public gatherings and closing of facilities and community halls, all of those things that are happening – that would be the point of the Town declaring an emergency.
“At this point it’s still not off the table, but unless the emergency management committee … comes up with a different plan, we’ll continue with the current approach. We’ll continue to encourage as best we can people to follow the recommended steps.”
Since the Town activated its Emergency Coordination Centre on March 13, every day it has announced new closures and cancellations, with the most recent being the closure of all local skating rinks, including the popular outdoor pond rink.
On Thursday (March 18), the Town closed the Civic Centre to any drop-ins, however indicates supports and services that can be offered will be offered through email or phone.
Also closed to the public are the Public Works Building and the firehall, though both can still be accessed by phone.
Since March 13, the Town has effectively closed all its recreational services, including Elevation Place and the Canmore Recreation Centre.
“Most of all we’ve done here has been as a result of recommendations or direction from public health authorities, so we’ll continue to rely on the informed advice of the experts,” said Borrowman.
“At this point, it’s changing regularly. Whatever I say right now might change by the end of the day. Whatever happens will be all posted on our website like boom, so I’ve been encouraging people to keep an eye on the Town website because it’s the most up-to-date information.”
The Town will update its website at canmore.ca/covid-19 as information becomes available.
