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Mask bylaw critiqued for lack of consultation

COVID cases within Athabasca County borders continue to rise, with Boyle now at 16 of 24
ATH County COVID poster
At their Nov. 26 regular meeting Athabasca County councillors discussed a letter from a Wandering River business owner who expressed his concerns with the temporary face-covering bylaw that took effect Nov. 22 after being passed by both Athabasca County and the Town of Athabasca Nov. 17. The county is offering businesses this sign on its website to remind customers to mask up. A similar sign can be found at the Town of Athabasca's website as well.

ATHABASCA – The Town of Athabasca and Athabasca County's temporary face-covering bylaws are still in effect for public spaces, and the whole Athabasca region remains under mandatory measures instituted by the province Nov. 24 as part of a public health emergency declaration.

Just five days after the two municipalities put the bylaws on the books, it was activated Nov. 22. Four days after that, at their Nov. 26 meeting, Athabasca County councillors had their first chance to talk about what they’ve been hearing from the public since the bylaw went into effect.

First, they looked over a letter written to Div. 6 Coun. Penny Stewart from Wandering River area business owner Rod Veremy of Green Leaf Fuel Distributors, who expressed his concerns about what he called a lack of proper consultation, communication, support, and enforcement before Bylaw 32-20202 was passed Nov. 17.

“With all due respect I understand your job can be challenging to try and represent everyone’s different opinions and views. I support the decisions that the county makes, but honestly felt this bylaw fell short and left business owners without proper consultation, communication, and steps of enforcement,” Veremy wrote.

Coun. Stewart commented she thought council did the best they could under the circumstances.

“I think some of his comments are valid, but we’re dealing with a pandemic as well, and this is new to us and I think we’re doing the best we can right now,” she said. “We took a step above the government at one point, but I understand there are concerns out there and everybody is going to have to map their way through this, but at the end of the day, I still think we did the best we could.”

“This isn’t getting any better and we all have to do our part,” said Coun. Dennis Willcott.

Stewart asked if any enforcement had been offered to the area, as she had been witness to a mask-related confrontation in a business herself.

County manager Ryan Maier clarified the bylaw is as enforceable as any other, and noted he had also witnessed an incident of his own in Athabasca.

“If somebody sees it and makes a complaint, we act on the complaint, or if the peace officer is in a certain area and sees something happen, then he acts on it,” he said. “I think there’s a mistake in thinking this bylaw is unenforceable. It is extremely  enforceable, and just as valid as any other bylaw.”

On the other hand, if the peace officer is in Rochester and a call comes in from Wandering River, that probably won’t be enforced, said Maier.

Coun. Kevin Haines also noted RCMP can enforce the bylaw as well.

Keeping current with COVID

The Athabasca region now has 24 active COVID-19 cases, with six more added to the tally over the weekend, all of which were reported in the Boyle area.

There were also two additional recoveries, bringing that number to 20, and bringing all cases since March to 43. The active case rate per 100,000 residents in the three municipalities — Athabasca County, Town of Athabasca and Village of Boyle — now sits at 181.9, with a population of 13,196. Another expected report from the province’s chief medical officer of health was expected Nov. 30, but occurred after the print deadline.

Numbers in Boyle, which are included in the overall stats, rose from 10 to 16 active cases over Saturday and Sunday, with seven recoveries and 23 total cases to date. Boyle is a separate geographical area on the Government of Alberta's geospatial map, but whether the new cases are in the village proper or the surrounding area in Athabasca County is not reported by the province. The Boyle area is also bordered to the southeast by Smoky Lake County which currently hosts 62 active cases, and an active case rate per 100,000 of 736.3.

Over in Westlock County, the number of active cases dropped to eight, after spiking in early to mid-November, but rose back up to 10 active cases Sunday. The rate remains above the 50 per 100,000 threshold, so the area remains under enhanced conditions.

The County of Barrhead reports six active cases, out of 32 total cases. The case rate there is at 59.3.

To the north of Athabasca County, the M.D. of Opportunity is down to 11 active cases and 56 recoveries with rate of 165.5. To the east, the Hamlet of Lac La Biche now reports 47 active cases and 17 recoveries, and a case rate of 463.

public health emergency was declared by Alberta premier Jason Kenney Tuesday, Nov. 24, which introduced a list of new mandatory measures regarding social gatherings, schooling and masks in workplaces, among others.

While there were no public briefings over the weekend, Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 1,731 new cases in Alberta on Saturday, another record high, and then the second highest-ever case count,  1,608, Sunday, bringing the active total to 15,692.

There were also 14 more deaths over the previous 48 hours on Sunday, bringing that total to 533 — 435 others are in hospital, and 95 of those are in intensive care.

 

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