No Mask Bylaw (For Now)
In a six to one vote Council voted against instituting a bylaw mandating the wearing of masks while riding transit and inside City Hall or City-owned and operated facilities.
They in turn then voted six to one to only recommend people wear masks while riding Moose Jaw Transit.
But Council left the ability as to whether or not to call back a mandatory Mask Bylaw as an option if the situation changed and they needed it later.
In a special Monday afternoon meeting Council heard from five sometimes emotional delegations who were strongly against the wearing of masks for a variety of reasons.
The issue of wearing masks on City buses and inside City facilities was brought up in discussions at last week’s regular Council meeting when the question was asked what consideration had been taken on wearing masks with full transit services and charging of fares starting September 8th.
The restoration of transit to a regular fare charging service, it has operated at a reduced level but has been free as a COVID - 19 pandemic measure since April, coincides with the re-opening of schools on the same date.
After the August 24th Council meeting Administration drew up a report which recommended mandatory mask wearing. The recommendation also called for a Bylaw which would have made masks mandatory as well as a fine issued if measures to have an individual to wear one were unsuccessful.
The proposed Bylaw stipulations were:
- A person must wear a face covering at all times while in an indoor, enclosed, or substantially enclosed City facility.
- A person accompanying a child of at least eight years of age/Grade 4 shall ensure that the child wears a face covering while in an indoor, enclosed, or substantially enclosed City facility.
- A person must wear a mask in all public transit buses.
Exceptions for the mask mandate:
- People under the age of eight years old.
- Those who have a medical condition that would impede their ability to use, place, or remove a mask without assistance.
- People engaged in physical exercise.
- People providing care for someone with a disability where a face covering would hinder that caregiving or assistance.
- Parents, guardians, caregivers, or people accompanying a child between two and eight years old who refuses to wear a mask and cannot be persuaded to do so.
- City employees where multiple barriers are in place.
The penalty for violating the proposed face mask bylaw was recommended to be $100.
Addressing the report city manager Jim Puffalt said the bylaw was only for City and not privately owned properties.
“We are only dealing with City facilities. We have no power to declare mask use elsewhere,” Puffalt stted.
He said the Province had effectively passed down a decision they should have made and not left it up to individual municipalities.
“The Province of Saskatchewan has left it open for municipalities…it should be up to the Province but they haven’t made a decision.”
Puffalt said masks were just one point of protection against the spread of COVID - 19 and the potential shutdown of the economy.
“Whatever barriers we can do it is important as we don’t want things to shut back down.”
In order for mandatory masks on buses to work the City would have to have a ready supply as it was only a week until they would be required and people may not be ready for the need to wear masks so quickly, he said.
Five Speakers
Council heard from five residents who were all firmly opposed to mandatory mask wearing for a variety of reasons. The reasons ranging from civil rights violations, retriggering trauma to survivors right up to helping hide child sexual exploitation.
Linda Cairns said she was opposed to Council mandating mask wearing because forcing people to wear one was a Canadian Charter of Rights violation.
Cairns said she was additionally opposed to masks because they were not necessary and in reality would help to spread the virus.
“Why is nobody mandating hazards waste cans for them?” she asked adding they end up scattered all over parking lots…I see people use masks inappropriately everywhere….more and more germs are just being added to the pile and spread somewhere else,” she said.
Masks also caused social problems, she claimed.
“It great drops off effective communication between people…it is like waching a movie with the lip synch off,” Cairns said. “Wearing masks is having negative social impacts.”
Additionally she claimed masks would have a negative impact on the economy as money used for some other items would be spent on masks and not elsewhere.
The criminal element was introduced into the presentation.
“Masks are beneficial to criminals and it makes them harder to identify by witnesses.”
Erin Reich said she was speaking for numerous groups who mandatory mask wearing would impact heavily including people with autism, trauma victims, seniors and the poor. The City passing a mandatory mask wearing bylaw would send out a strong message in the community in their favour and it is something she said she is opposed to.
For people with autism Reich claimed masks were a major source of anxiety.
“The heat, the frustration a mask makes (for someone with autism) for the few minutes of popping into a store,” Reich claimed.
Masks were a cost the homeless could not afford.
“I came here for the poor who lives in the door aroud my home wh cannot afford a mask.”
She also said she appeared before Council to speak on behalf of her 90 year old grandfather who enjoyed looking at people’s faces when they speak, it helped him to understand what people were saying.
There was a personal reason for Wright to be opposed to masks because they can cause people suffering from trauma to relive their traumatic experiences.
“For me it means to come here to relive the trauma (of sexual assault),” Reich said.
The fact that there has only been 24 deaths in a province of 1.1 million people that is attributable to COVID - 19 should point to not needing to wear masks, she said.
“Do those numbers justify the wearing of masks?” Reich asked.
Chey Craik said in making their decision Council needed to look at the facts about the virus as he also emphasized the low case numbers in comparisson to the provincial population. The understanding of the virus has grown in the last few months he said and true information on the virus needed to be considered.
“These measures are unprecedented in the history of humanity…(wearing of masks) is not supported by high quality medical research.”
Craik quoted a study which showed the wearing of medical or even N95 masks did nothing to reduce the rate of infection. Proper hygiene though was important.
“We all want to protect ourselves from viruses…upon further study mandatory masks is not the solution.”
He pointed to Edmonton where case numbers increased upwards massively after mandatory mask wearing was implemented months ago.
“Mission Zero is a good system for workplace safety but not to control a virus.”
Wanda Smith said she opposed mandatory mask wearing because of the problem of human trafficking in Moose Jaw.
Smith spoke about seeing a video on the Internet and how in just three minutes a girl could be changed into looking like a boy with the help of a mask even the child’s own mother would not recognize her in the end.
She spoke about her own personal experiences in Moose Jaw where an unknown man had taken pictures of her daughter and the discussion she had had with the Moose Jaw Police Service about it. Although there did not seem to be anything surreptitious going on there could quite possibly be.
Wanda Smith was another resident opposed to mandatory masks - MJ Independent photo
“The sargeant cautioned me to have a very close watch on our children because it is happening here,” she said. Smith went on to speak about another female she personally saw as being trafficked here locally and how reputable groups out there telling about how the traffickers were taking advantage of the pandemic.
“Offenders see the pandemic as an opportunity to commit more explotation against children,” Smith said. “Use good old fashioned proven common sense the risks outweigh the benefits.”
Dwight Simkins said he agreed with the four previous presenters but wanted to point out the fact that the majority of people who die from COVID - 19 are older and have underlying health conditions. Statistics showed young people were the least effected he said.
“Basically it is not affecting that area (15 - 24 year olds) that is because they have been together and are immune.”
Simkins said the virus exacerbated underlying health problems for people over 55 and that is where the deaths are averaging at age 78 years old which is the average age most people pass away at.
“It is not actually shortening the majority of people’s lives,” he said.
Bylaw Discussion
Speaking first on the issue Mayor Fraser Tolmie said the presenters helped prove democracy was still working.
“The democratic process is still working we are not a police state,” Mayor Tolmie said over the Internet as he was in Ontario tending to family matters. “City owned facilities are already regulated…I don’t see us having to add or subtract (anything)…I believe in the free market (and it is) up to business owners (to regulated their own businesses.”
Tolmie said he opposed the Bylaw and the $100 punitive fine but merely wanted the rules applied to City buses because they have people at close quarters in a variety of ages.
“I think the only area we should be focusing on is Transit.”
Councillor Dawn Luhining said she supported the Mayor’s position despite wearing a mask herself when in close contact with others.
“I have personally have made the choice to wear a mask when I cannot maintain social distancing,” Luhning said, adding that Council should simply recommend the wearing of masks.
In questioning about actual Transit bus capacities Puffalt said the Province, by failing to take any action in the area of public health in this instance, had saddled municipalities with the decision resulting in a hodge podge of different restrictions across the province.
“The Province has not take the lead on this leaving it up to the municipalities,” he said.
Councillor Chris Warren said there were two sides to the issue with such groups as Masks For Canada having 2,000 medical people sign a petition and request municipalities take action when it came to mask wearing. But despite the calls for mandatory mask wearing by a large segment of fhe medical community Warren said he still opposed mandating masks for facilities but was OK with Transit having mask wearing recommendations.
“I’m in favour we communicate to residents they should wear a mask when they ride a bus,” Warren said. He did speak out though about “public shaming” people who chose not to wear masks.
“It just divides the community it is something we don’t want.”
Councillor Brian Swanson said the mandatory wearing of masks had two sides with “firmly held beliefs on both sides” and so in the end the science had to prevail.
He wondered about the reason to take a month to prepare a proposed two page bylaw.
“I would like to error on the side of caution and the side of science…there is more than the deaths it is the symptoms that accompany it,” Councillor Swanson said in supporting the proposed Bylaw.
Councillor Crystal Froese supported some type of regulation to have people wear masks but she was opposed to fining people whou did not comply.
“I will not support fines for this…we have to come up with a collaborative way in this community…it cannot be punitive it has to be collaborative.”
Councillor Heather Eby strongly opposed a Mask Bylaw.
“I am not in favour of mandatory masks,” Councill Eby said adding the proposed Bylaw did not say recommended but said manadatory.
“Let’s not make a bylaw if we are not going to enforce it,” she said. “I believe it is going to create division in the community.”
“A lot of people are loving in fear…living in fear is not the way to live. I will not be supporting this at all.”
Mayor Tolmie agreed passing a bylaw was unneeded and it was too early in the issue to be considering it. He did however leave the door open for a bylaw in the future if it was required.
“To come out with a bylaw seems extreme when we haven’t talked to the Province about this,” he said, adding “I think there has to be a bit of a pause here.”
“A bylaw without a fine has no teeth…maybe the bylaw in the future but rather than ram this down people’s throats we need to take a pause here,” Mayor Tolmie said.
Councillor Scott McMann asked about the ability to bring back a potential mask bylaw in the future if the situation changed.
Administration told Councillor McMann it was possible if in the future the situation changed and warranted it.
Councillor McMann said he could not support mandatory wearing a mask at City owned facilities and that the proposed bylaw would have the police enforcing it.
“I am really concerned about the pressure we put on police resources,” he said.
In a six to one vote with Councillor Brian Swanson the lone vote in favour requesting Administration to draw up a Mask Bylaw failed.
Recommendation Discussion
Immediately following the defeat of the proposed bylaw Council discussed a motion proposed by Councillor Luhing.
The motion was to recommend to the public that they wear a mask while riding City Transit in accordance with the recommendations of the Province’s Chief Medical Officer. There would be no penalty under this motion and the recommendation would be reviewed in 2021 or when the Province lifts its public safety alert.
Councillor Froese criticized the Province for not taking the lead and the lack of consultation with municipalities about mandatory mask wearing.
“I really don’t thnk we had a lot of collaboration with them,” she said. “The last thing I would like to see is a police officer show up in front of a bus.”
Councillor Warren asked about signage on the bus to alert riders as to the recommendation and if free masks would be made available to those who did not have one but wnted to wear one..
Councillor Swanson said proposing a recommendation really meant nothing as it was up to Council to mandate subdtantive change and not simply make recommendations.
“It debases our office by (just) recommending something,” he said.
In a vote of six to one with only Councillor Swanson opposed Council adopted to pass the recommendation people riding the bus should wear a mask and there will be no penalty for not wearing a mask.