The City of Calgary is considering declaring a state of local emergency (SOLE) to help handle the city’s second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
“If the province announces something where we could write supplemental orders like we did in the spring to supplement what they were doing, then it makes a ton of sense to enact another state of emergency,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Tuesday. “And, quite frankly, if the province doesn’t go far enough, then we need to think if we can do more with a state of emergency.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced a state of public health emergency Tuesday, along with new targeted restrictions like prohibiting all indoor social gatherings and additional capacity restrictions for businesses.
The provincial government previously enacted a state of public health emergency between March 15 and June 15.
Calgary’s last SOLE was declared on March 15 and was ended on June 12. City-owned and partner-operated facilities were closed and capacity restrictions were imposed in certain facilities, limiting them to less than 250 people or 50 per cent.
A local state of emergency would give the chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency the authority to implement orders without seeking approval from city council.
According to Nenshi, a local state of emergency would help the city with its pandemic preparation and quickly re-stock supplies, as well as the potential to access funding from both the federal and provincial governments to assist Calgarians who are impacted by the pandemic.
“Frankly, there’s a big symbolic value,” Nenshi said. “To remind people that this is an emergency, that things are much worse than when we declared the state of emergency in March.”
The decisions on restrictions implemented during a public health emergency is limited to the province’s health authorities, not the city.
That means the mayor and city can’t shut down the entire city during this pandemic.
“Even if I were to test the limits of my authority, the province has the power to rescind anything I do,” Nenshi said. “And nobody needs a jurisdictional battle right now.
“What people need is for everyone to work together.”
Nenshi said declaring a SOLE requires the mayor and one other member of council — usually the chair of the city’s emergency management committee, currently Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra — to make the decision based on advice from city officials, including members of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.
Part of those discussions were going on in the background as city council was also debating the upcoming year’s budget.
Following the provincial COVID-19 update, Calgary city council — all of whom except for the mayor are participating virtually — went into a closed-door session for a briefing with CEMA chief Tom Sampson to discuss the city’s options and response to the latest round of provincial health measures.
Nenshi said city officials are examining libraries and rec centres in order to determine whether it is possible to keep them open under the government’s restrictions.
City officials are also seeking clarity as to how the provincial and city measures, like the mandatory masks, can co-exist and work together, Nenshi said.
Early Tuesday, Nenshi told reporters he had heard indications that the provincial measures would give more authority to the city to enforce the guidelines laid out by the province.
So far, only Calgary Police officers and inspectors with Alberta Health Services have had the ability to hand out tickets for disregarding the COVID-19 measures.
However, Kenney said a decision to allow peace officers to enforce health orders would be made later in the week.
”I’ve got a bunch of women and men out there with uniforms and ticket books, lets give them an opportunity to use those tools,” Nenshi said.
In an emailed statement, the City of Calgary said it “supports all efforts to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 to save lives and protect the health-care system.”
The statement said the city is working through the province’s announced restrictions to understand how it impacts city operations and facilities, and plans to have more information released to the public on Wednesday.
Comments