Calgary Mayor Neheed Nenshi. (Canadian Press)

By Canadian Press

Calgary asks province for enforcement powers amid ‘unbelievably bad’ COVID situation

Nov 13, 2020 | 1:54 PM

CALGARY, AB – Calgary’s emergency chief is asking the Alberta government to allow city police and peace officers to enforce public health orders as COVID-19 cases climb.

Chief Tom Sampson says he’s asked that a letter be drafted to the province making the request and he’s optimistic it will be granted.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says governments can’t enforce their way out of the pandemic, but that the city should have that power for egregious and flagrant cases.

The province granted Calgary the authority to issue tickets and fines at the beginning of the pandemic, but that power lapsed in mid-June and Nenshi says, now, it has zero enforcement power.

Nenshi says the situation is unbelievably bad and that no one predicted the speed and ferocity of the second wave of the virus.

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There are more than 3,500 active cases in the Calgary zone, 72 people in hospital, and 14 in intensive care.

(The Canadian Press)