Vaccine passports inevitable for Riders games, says Regina mayor

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters largely tiptoed around the thorny issue of vaccine passports in her weekly appearance on the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday.

But she believes that on the question of proof of vaccination at Riders games, the decision will likely be made for the team.

“I think the CFL is going to make this decision and that the Riders will of course participate in looking for vaccination verification. Or, worst-case scenario, that negative tests (be produced before) coming into the building,” Masters said.

The mayor said it’s been fortunate that the games have taken place outdoors and that they haven’t become “major spreader events.”

There were nine COVID-19 cases linked to the Riders home opener on Aug. 6.

While the football team has encouraged vaccinations and has hosted pop-up clinics, it has stopped short of requiring proof of vaccination to attend games.

The Riders and Edmonton Elks have been the holdouts within the CFL on the issue, neither voicing support nor implementing policy requiring vaccination or a negative test.

Instead, the team has said it will rely on guidance from provincial health officials.

Saskatchewan’s Health Minister Paul Merriman in turn said it would be the Riders’ prerogative on vaccine requirements.

Soon after, TSN’s Farhan Lalji reported both the Elks and Riders were meeting with stakeholders to introduce a policy requiring fans to be fully vaccinated to attend games.

The Regina mayor’s counterpart in Saskatoon has made clear where he stands on vaccine passports. In a social media post on Tuesday, Charlie Clark wrote that people who choose not to be vaccinated should face restrictions.

“I believe there need to be measures in place for people who choose not to be vaccinated, that put limits or conditions on how much they can participate in community activities,” Clark wrote.

Masters is also losing patience with those choosing to go unvaccinated.

“I sway to people getting vaccinated, I’m getting pretty frustrated with folks who are holding out,” she said.

“I have concerns about people coming indoors, whether it’s kids going into (the) classroom, into hockey practices, WHL games, other types of indoor activities. That is a concern coming into fall.”