Meadow Lake City Council voted to follow the province's guidance on mandatory masking which would currently see the requirement lifted at the end of the month. (File photo/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By meadowlakeNOW Staff

Scheduled change

Meadow Lake to follow province’s lead on mandatory masking

Feb 15, 2022 | 1:00 PM

The City of Meadow Lake will follow the province’s direction on mask mandates at the end of the month.

City council voted unanimously on Monday to follow whatever guidance is laid down through public health order when it comes to having to wear a mask in city facilities. This means that if the Re-Opening Plan doesn’t change by Feb. 28, residents would no longer be required to mask up in buildings in those buildings.

Mayor Merlin Seymour told meadowlakeNOW that they are following the province’s direction on all restrictions already lifted and will keep masking until the province repeals that mandate. However, he added that staff would wear masks in specific circumstances if requested by members of the public, such as a city worker going to complete a meter read at a home.

“If masking is not in place and residents requests that our staff put a mask on before they come in, we will be abiding by the wishes of the residents,” he said.

The city followed the provincial guidance on proof of vaccination or negative testing to start the week, as they had not passed any additional policy on the issue when it was enacted back in the fall.

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Reaction to the Re-Opening Plan has been mixed, with unions and several First Nations leaders joining the Sask NDP in criticizing the move to lift restrictions, while rough poll estimates in the business communities and municipalities favour the province’s direction. In late January, an Angus Reid poll had 62 per cent of Saskatchewan residents favouring the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the highest percentage of all Canadian provinces, with the national number at 54 per cent.

Seymour added that the legal liability would be something that council and administration have to look into as a municipality, before they consider invoking regulations of this sort without a public health order in place. This issue will also be faced by all businesses and municipalities who choose to continue with restrictions after the mandate is lifted.

‘We’re not health experts by any means, so that’s why we’re following the directions of the province,” he said.

Cities that passed their own policies regarding COVID-19 restrictions have so far lifted proof of vaccination or negative test requirements, though some have delayed on making a decision on masking, should the province lift the mandate on schedule this month.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakeNOW