Calgary mask bylaw repealed, some policies remain for public facilities

CALGARY – The mask bylaw has been repealed in Calgary.

During a meeting on Monday, city council voted in favour of ending the mask bylaw fully and developing a policy for public facilities. The vote passed 10-4, with Councillors Jyoti Gondek, George Chahal, Druh Farrell and Gian-Carlo Carra opposed.

A second option proposed by administration, giving the city manager authority to repeal the remaining section of the bylaw for public facilities passed 11-3. Councillors Jeromy Farkas, Sean Chu and Joe Magliocca voted against this option.

The third reading of the bylaw did not receive unanimous consent right away, but after a special meeting late on Monday afternoon — with a vote of 10-4, lasting less than five minutes — the bylaw had passed and then Mayor Naheed Nenshi signed off on it to make it official. Councillors Gondek, Chahal, Farrell and Carra again voted against it.

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The bylaw was first introduced last year, after Premier Jason Kenney said he did not want to impose a province-wide mask mandate in the earlier days of the pandemic and trusted cities to make their own decision.

Calgary was one of the first to adopt the bylaw, with other municipalities like Edmonton following suit and eventually the province did end up introducing its own mandate.

That Alberta mandate was ended on Jul. 1 along with the removal of most of the other COVID-19 restrictions, but council voted in June to wait an extra two weeks before deciding how to move forward.

On Monday morning, administration presented the two options and said they felt comfortable enough to remove the mandate amid a drop in COVID-19 cases and a rise in vaccinations.

Some councillors expressed reservations about it, and said it would be better to be cautious now rather than risk the bylaw coming back into place if variants become more prevalent and viral spread is increased in the community once more.

Other councillors said having a local bylaw in the absence of a provincial mandate would be confusing, and now was the time to move past the pandemic response and into an endemic response where people and businesses can make the decisions that they feel are best for themselves.

After the initial vote, Nenshi said this was clear direction from council.

“What you saw today was actually a very broad consensus of council, just agreeing on the right way to move forward based on the data,” he said.

Nenshi said during debate in the chambers that he, too, has some lingering concerns but he is also optimistic about the current state of COVID-19 in Alberta and thinks risks can be mitigated before the Stampede which starts on Friday.

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“We did get ten days of solid data, and the biggest thing in that data was that the (second dose) vaccination rate went up 12 per cent in one week,” Nenshi said. “That’s really good. And if we get another 12 per cent between last Wednesday and the (Stampede) parade on Friday that means we’ll be over half of the people having their second dose.”

While this does mean you won’t need to wear a mask in places like restaurants and retail stores — unless it is the policy of those specific businesses — masks will still be required for places such as public libraries and city-operated recreation facilities. Masks are also required on public transit and in AHS facilities as part of remaining provincial rules.

Councillor Gondek said this makes sense and will go a long way to protecting public employees.

“I think it’s important to keep it in city facilities, we are an employer and as an operator we are obligated to follow the guidelines set out by Dr. Hinshaw and her guidelines are quite specific about taking responsibility. I think our administration will do the right thing,” Gondek said.

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Councillor Farkas had been one of the most vocal opponents to the bylaw recently, and pushed to have it repealed in line with the removal of provincial restrictions at the beginning of the month. He asked administration if they felt the recommendations on Monday matched with Dr. Hinshaw’s guidance and officials said they believed it did.

Farkas told reporters outside the chambers that he respects personal choice in the matter.

“I think it should be a personal choice in terms of when and where to use masks. For me, I’ll certainly use masks in certain circumstances when the situation warrants it, but I won’t be judging others who choose to do so. I think we need to be kind,” he said.

Mayor Nenshi and other councillors echoed that as well, as they said it will be crucial to practice kindness through the next phase of the situation.

“People’s attitudes are going to shift, but I do want people to maintain kindness towards everyone. Especially retail and service workers. The way they’ve been treated is incomprehensible,” Nenshi said. “I do really believe that this is an opportunity for us to move forward.”