Why I voted against the mask bylaw

I have received lots of emails expressing disappointment in my vote against our new mask bylaw. A yes or no vote reduces a complex decision to black and white. I understand the perception that City Council was leaving a meaningful tool on the table. That wearing a mask is a small ask of residents that will have a meaningful impact in the fight against Covid.

We assume that Premier Kenney is playing politics by recommending, but not mandating, masks indoors. Unlike British Columbia and Saskatchewan, which have provincial mask laws for indoor public spaces, Alberta does not. The pressure on City Council to pass the mask bylaw is an indication that many residents, including local health professionals, do not believe that our provincial response is sufficient. So the public asked for, and received, additional public health measures. Local doctors asked us to trust them over our provincial health officer.

For a municipal council it is difficult to estimate the amount of danger during a public health crisis. We aren’t supplied with data about hospital capacity or staff fatigue. We don’t have regional modelling data forecasting the next few months. We don’t have the public health department advising us about who is catching Covid and where and how to target health measures. That’s why we rely on Dr. Hinshaw. It’s difficult for us to know how drastic a measure we should take.

Given the fervor of the emails urging Council to support a mask bylaw it is clear that many feel we are at a tipping point. Common consensus was support for a mandatory mask bylaw for indoor public spaces, but there are other options available to Council. We could have passed a mandatory mask bylaw for all indoor workplaces as well. This is what Premier Kenney did for Edmonton and Calgary. Extended contact in close quarters with poor ventilation likely means many workplaces are risky environments. But this would have required Council to declare a state of local emergency. Are we in enough danger to warrant that drastic step? We pulled the fire alarm. Should we have tripped the fire sprinklers too? Some have already complained that the new bylaw is too little, too late.

It is not unreasonable that City Council should exercise discretion when adding public health measures above and beyond provincial guidelines. Allowing the province to set the rules has the advantage of keeping city council neutral. Not in the sense of suggesting equivalency between maskers and anti-maskers, but allowing Alberta Health to make these decisions. It’s easier to enforce a rule than to enforce and justify a new rule. Trust in government authorities is in short supply these days.

My disagreement is not over the science of masks, but over strategy and who is in the best position to set it. It is also about how to best gain widespread compliance of Covid best practices. There is a good case for following provincial guidelines. And using the platform City Council has to educate residents about Alberta Health guidelines and helping them follow Covid best practices (physical distancing + hand washing + cleaning + masks + limiting social contacts).

Masks help, but they are not a magic bullet. It’s not about one layer of protection, but multiple layers. To turn the tide City Council needs residents to do more than just wear a mask in public. That requires residents to embrace and internalize health guidelines. Not just in public where it’s easy to enforce, but in private spaces at home and work, where government cannot easily reach. That takes discipline. Easier to achieve if there is trust in government authorities and between members of our community.

Turning the tide also takes all of us. Passing this bylaw required a lot of political capital (ie trust). It’s one thing for Dr. Hinshaw, a trusted health professional authorized to make that judgment call—another for a City Council. Simply put, it’s hard for me to judge if the benefits are worth the loss of trust in council for some residents. How will that loss of trust manifest? That’s not a question that the local doctors, who petitioned Council to support this bylaw, can answer.

This is the greatest threat to public health we’ve faced in generations. It is also a great threat to our community’s unity. The pandemic has deepened political divisions. Some feel we aren’t taking this seriously enough, others that we are overreacting. We need education and courtesy to get everyone on the same page.

This letter also appears in the Medicine Hat News, December 4, 2020.