The City of Calgary is hoping the provincial government will grant a request to give bylaw and police officers the green light to ticket anyone “flagrantly disregarding” new health restrictions announced Thursday to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
As it stands, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said when it comes to enforcing the new measures — which apply to indoor group fitness and team sports, as well as restaurants and bars – the city is essentially powerless.
That’s because of a clause in the provincial legislation that Nenshi said has “got to get fixed at some point,” which doesn’t allow bylaw — and, in some cases, police officers — to enforce public health orders.
“That should just get fixed. If you’re going to make a public health order, then anyone in enforcement in the city should be able to enforce it,” he said.
“I’ve got women and men out there with ticket books, who currently cannot write tickets, and I think that if there are people who are egregiously and flagrantly putting others at risk, they ought to get a ticket. They ought to see the consequences of the work they do.”
Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief Tom Sampson said Friday he asked that a letter be drafted to the province Thursday night, asking for officers with the Calgary Police Service to be able to enforce the new measures.
Sampson said in the meantime when it comes to the 10 p.m. liquor sale curfew on restaurants and bars, police officers will first have a conversation with operators of establishments that aren’t following the guidelines.
“But if it’s a willful and purposeful attempt to get around the closures, they will deal with it. And that is enforceable through two means today: through the Calgary Police Service and its officers, who at their discretion will choose whether to ticket, or secondarily through the environment and public health section of Alberta Health Services,” Sampson said, adding that the city’s business licensing department may also investigate any closures that are the result of health order violations.
Nenshi said he would like to see more information on how the provincial government came to the decision to impose restrictions on fitness, sport and restaurants.
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Up until Thursday, restaurants and bars specifically had been touted by provincial officials as a safe alternative to having a small social gathering with a friend, with the chief medical officer of health suggesting last week – when people were strongly advised against inviting anyone into their homes that aren’t in their core family group — that those who want to see a friend, should do so either outside or at a bar or restaurant.
When asked Thursday about why the restrictions on bars and restaurants were being announced now, Premier Jason Kenney said while hospitality establishments still only account for a small percentage of viral spread, officials have seen a “growing number of businesses that late at night have moved their tables out of the way and essentially turned into de facto nightclubs, which has always been against the restrictions.”
“There are areas that are much more a much greater concern, such as transmission at home and social gatherings,” Kenney said. “Having said that, there are a small number of communities that have disregarded the public health guidelines. And this is another way of reminding them of the importance of following those guidelines.”
Hinshaw echoed Kenney’s comments, saying the targeted new measures are aimed at “areas of risk we know that, as community transmission grows and as our positivity rate increases… that those are the kinds of activities that can potentially cause spread from one to many if there is a bit of a deviation or a slip-up in the protocols.”
“I think what I would really like to see from the province is some transparency, visibility into their decision-making process, and why they feel these restrictions are the right ones,” Nenshi said Friday.
It’s not ‘COVID-19 or the economy’: Nenshi
Both Nenshi and Sampson said they foresee the restrictions going beyond the two-week timeframe set out by the province, with the mayor saying the current case numbers, hospitalizations and ICU admissions are “unbelievably bad.”
“What none of us anticipated was the speed and ferocity of the second wave, and how quickly it’s growing,” Nenshi said. “And that’s really what our deepest concern is right now.”
Sampson said the challenge Calgarians need to take on is, “How can we stay open?” and “How can we stay safe?” when in the spring it was “How can we open?”
Nenshi said it’s “critical” that people take action on their own accord, and advised, “don’t wait for the government to tell you what to do.”
“We really have to get away from this discussion that it’s about COVID-19 or the economy. That it’s about public health or the economy,” the mayor said.
“It actually doesn’t make any sense. Because if we get into full outbreak mode, if we get into Italy in February or New York in March mode, the economy’s gone. You can’t have an economy without health.
“And so ultimately what we need to do is do the right things now in order to save the economy.”
Nenshi said declaring a state of local emergency is “always on the table,” but it doesn’t give the city much extra power, so it’s not being strongly considered right now.
In the latest provincial update on Thursday, Alberta confirmed the total number of active cases in the province was 8,305 with 225 people in hospital including 51 in intensive care.
In the Calgary Zone, the government said there were 3,504 active cases of COVID-19.
Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 393.
— With files from Global News’ Melissa Gilligan
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