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An attempt to drop some COVID-19 safety precautions applicable to the Regina public failed to gain traction around the council table Wednesday night, ending with a show of support for the city manager’s pandemic decision-making.
A motion from Coun. John Findura proposed rescinding the requirement for the public to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test before entering indoor city facilities, while keeping it in place for municipal employees.
Speaking to it, Findura cited “mental health” and the need to be “representing everyone equally as residents.” He said he’s fully vaccinated and wears masks.
Findura’s motion was defeated 9-2, with Coun. Landon Mohl the other vote in favour.
Instead, council gave a unanimous vote of confidence for city manager Chris Holden, who has been delegated authority to make decisions for the city on COVID-19 since April last year.
Holden has used that authority most recently to enact safety measures such as requiring masks on transit and while visiting indoor city facilities, requiring city employees to show proof of vaccination and to implement a vaccine passport system for the public to access city facilities.
The measures came as the province was seeing high infection rates and the lowest vaccination rate in the country, with medical health officers recommending public health measures be taken.
“It’s important that you understand that council has your back. Council respects what you’ve done and is fully supportive,” Coun. Bob Hawkins, who sponsored the motion, said in reference to Holden.
“The decisions you’ve taken with respect to these restrictions have saved lives in the city and will continue to save lives so long as we’re in the grips of this pandemic.”
While the mask requirement has been in effect since Sept. 4, the vaccine passport system is expected to begin Nov. 15. That date is later than expected as the city waits on the province to develop a QR (quick response) code that can be used to validate somebody’s vaccine status while protecting personal information. It is expected to be available next week.
The city is also looking for the technology to put the policy into practice.
“Once the QR code is in place, there will be an app that is downloadable. Our staff and our facilities will have that app and it will be scanning your QR code as you come in — no different than a ticket at a facility, essentially,” Mayor Sandra Masters said. “It gives you a green light that you’re double-vaxxed or you’re going to produce a negative test result.”
Masters said vaccine passports could be implemented earlier than Nov. 15 if the technology becomes available sooner.
According to a report from administration, the cost of proof of vaccination from Nov. 15 until year’s end is estimated to be $250,000. It would be funded through the city’s COVID-19 Recovery Reserve, which projects to have a balance of $1.8 million by the end of the year.
Proof of vaccination begins this week for out-of-scope city workers, with a target date of mid-October for in-scope employees, Holden told council.
Protest outside City Hall
Wednesday’s meeting was preceded by a protest outside City Hall with demonstrators opposing everything from vaccine mandates to outright denying the existence of COVID-19.
The meeting also saw a lengthy lineup of virtual delegations expressing opposition to the city’s vaccine policy, many of the speakers airing misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, while advancing pseudo-legal arguments against mandates.
The lone delegation speaking in favour of the city’s measures was Tracy Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses.
Zambory said members are experiencing anxiety attacks and PTSD and are questioning their career choices as they struggle with record daily case numbers, overcrowded emergency rooms and the prospect of deciding who gets life-saving care.
She said people need to be thinking about doing the right things to protect each other.
“As registered nurses, we don’t have time anymore for that kind of really selfish way of trying to live anymore,” Zambory said. “We can’t do that. There’s too many people dying, too many people ill and our system is collapsing because of it.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story, reflecting the fact that the vaccine requirement can be implemented earlier than Nov. 15 if the technology is available sooner than expected.
