City of Regina to go along with province and drop COVID rules

City of Regina facilities like pools and transit buses will be following much of the rest of the province in the coming weeks and will drop the applicable COVID-19 vaccination and masking policies.

Regina city council made those decisions Friday afternoon in a special meeting.

The meeting started with 13 delegations speaking their minds to council, a slim majority of those people supporting the removal of vaccination and masking policies in city facilities.

City administration recommended taking the vaccination and masking mandates down in concert with the province’s mandates coming down.

It also favoured removing the emergency powers given to the city manager around COVID, bringing city council meetings back to happen in-person, and opening Henry Baker Hall to the public again.

Louise Folk, the executive director of People and Transformation, answered questions from the councillors and pointed out it would be difficult to maintain the restrictions without a public health order and it could add to confusion for the public.

When asked, Folk also said there are concerns from employees that there could be potential escalation from the public if the city continues to ask for proof of vaccination.

Those councillors on the side of keeping the policies included Cheryl Stadnichuk who, in her remarks, pointed out the health-care system is still under “extreme stress” and she wanted to be able to give health-care workers some room to breathe.

“We are all tired, but if any one group has the right to complain about being exhausted during this pandemic, it’s our health-care workers,” Stadnichuk said during the meeting.

“Until we see a significant drop in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID, I am not prepared to support a removal (of public health measures) from our city facilities at this time.”

Councillors in support of the administration’s recommendations talked about not wanting to create more division in the community, and others like Coun. Jason Mancinelli said he didn’t think the city should go against the province’s decision.

“Right now, without a provincial mandate in place, I do not believe I have any authority to do anything but the recommendations on the table,” he said.

All four of the city’s recommendations ended up passing. The recommendations around revoking the city manager’s emergency powers and removing the proof of vaccination for city facilities appeared to be the least contentious, passing with votes of 9-1 and 8-2 respectively.

The vote around the recommendation to remove the mask policy in city facilities and on transit was the closest.

“As someone who takes transit, an employee at a public agency, as an elected official, a parent and a son of someone who is very concerned about their health in the public spaces, (I ask) that we maintain masking. It is simple and certainly not intrusive,” Coun. Andrew Stevens said in his time speaking to council.

Coun. Shanon Zachidniak later echoed that thought.

“Wearing masks is a very simple thing to do. Whether or not you like them or not, I see no good reason why we can’t continue wearing masks and have that extra precaution in place — particularly on transit, which is an enclosed space. It’s wintertime (and) we don’t have the windows open on these buses,” Zachidniak said.

Councillors Bob Hawkins and Stadnichuk also voted against, but the recommendation ended up being passed, 6-4 in favour.

Seven of the councillors present also voted to have in-person council meetings and open Henry Baker Hall to the public again, with three councillors voting against.