City considers declaring new state of emergency
Nenshi says adding to provincial steps could make `ton of sense'
Mayor Naheed Nenshi says Calgary could enter a new state of local emergency after the province announced new public-health restrictions Tuesday.
The province declared a new state of public health emergency to accompany a series of restrictions aimed at driving down surging COVID-19 cases.
“If the province announces something where we could write supplemental orders like we did in the spring ... then it makes a ton of sense to enact another state of emergency,” he said.
“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.”
A state of local emergency gives the city powers to take action quickly, allowing the head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency to make orders that are implemented right away. The city last declared the state of emergency in March, as the first wave of COVID-19 was rising, and it lasted into June.
The mayor added that declaring a state of local emergency could help the city restock necessary pandemic supplies more effectively and potentially access different funding from other levels of government.
“Frankly, there's big symbolic value to remind people that this is an emergency, that things are much worse than when we declared a state of emergency in March.”
City council got an update from CEMA Chief Tom Sampson behind closed doors on Tuesday evening, and Nenshi said he would be in ongoing discussions on the city's next move.
He urged Calgarians to follow the new rules the province put in place and think carefully about how to make sure they keep themselves and others safe.
Nenshi said he heard indications that the provincial announcement would fix enforcement problems the city has also been having. Currently, only Alberta Health Services inspectors or police officers can hand out penalties for violating public-health orders, leaving city bylaw officers out.
But Premier Jason Kenney didn't give a final answer — he said the government will make a decision “later this week” on expanding those enforcement powers, which will “likely” include peace officers.
Not following mandatory restrictions could result in fines of up to $1,000 per offence.
Alberta's new restrictions also mandate masks in Edmonton and Calgary, which each have thousands of active COVID-19 cases. Those cities already have municipal mask bylaws, which both city councils put in place months ago. The provincial government says the rules now go a step further, requiring face coverings in all indoor workplaces. The municipal rules require them in any publicly accessible indoor space.
Nenshi said there still needs to be some clarity on how the municipal and provincial rules work together.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw warned earlier this week that Alberta has reached a “precarious point,” with record-setting numbers for novel coronavirus infections on multiple consecutive days, all of which has been accompanied by a steady increase in patients that need hospital and ICU care.
Nenshi said Alberta's backlog in contact tracing means it's too late for targeted restrictions.
“We don't know where the spread is happening,” he said.
“When things are this bad, you've got to go much more restrictive. Doing it now so businesses can still have a hope of salvaging some of their Christmas season makes a lot of sense to me.”