Saskatoon city council votes to lift mask mandate in city facilities, but not buses

The City of Saskatoon has decided to diverge from the province’s COVID-19 guidelines on masking for at least a little bit longer as the topic came up for debate during Monday’s council meeting.

City council voted eight to three to lift the mask mandate in city facilities, but not on buses.

The original motion before council was to lift all masking mandates.

The administration recommended removing the requirement in city facilities to allow people to make their own personal decisions that are best suited for them.

Saskatoon’s emergency manager, Pamela Goulden-McLeod, said it’s part of living with COVID, although councillors disagreed.

Ward 2 councillor Hilary Gough moved to keep masks on buses.

Gough said there are many places within the city where masking is inconsistent.

“Most of those spaces are places where people can either choose not to go or can choose to take other precautions,” Gough said.

However, she argued there is still a need to protect people, with many still in hospital, an unknown number of infections and hard-to-track transmission.

She said you can’t treat the enclosed confines of a bus like a recreation centre.

“They can physically distance from other people in those spaces or can go at less busy times,” Gough stated.

“The reality of transit is that it’s a critical service, it is a required means of transportation for many people in our community,” the councillor added.

Council also charged the administration with providing advice given by the city’s medical health officer and asked for a report on masking on transit in other jurisdictions, in relation to the state of their COVID situation.

Going forward, council will be revisiting the policy every month and may readjust if need be.