Lethbridge City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge City Council to consider extending mask bylaw to Dec. 31

Feb 3, 2021 | 10:33 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Could the residents of Lethbridge be required to wear face masks in public settings until the end of 2021? We might find out on Thursday, February 11.

At next week’s Community Safety Standing Policy Committee Meeting, Lethbridge City Council will debate extending Bylaw 6239 – Temporary Mandatory Face Coverings Bylaw to December 31, 2021.

The mask mandate was first introduced on August 24, 2020, and was set to be in effect until December 31, 2020. In November, it was extended until February 23, 2021.

READ MORE: Lethbridge City Council approves face mask bylaw

READ MORE: Lethbridge mandatory face mask bylaw extended

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Since the bylaw was implemented, Robin Harper, GM of Recreation and Culture with the city, says in his submission to council that compliance in the community has increased from approximately 40 per cent to 90 per cent.

Call volumes to Lethbridge 311 related to masking have reportedly seen a significant decrease since its implementation.

However, extending the bylaw could come with some additional costs.

Harper says, through conversations with Lethbridge Police Service and Regulatory Services, they would need an increase in resources to allow staff the capacity to enforce the bylaw.

“Current staff resources in Regulatory Services would not be adequate if the intent moving forward was to increase enforcement with ticketing. Resource limitations for LPS would also be a concern for mask enforcement-related calls, as these calls would have to be prioritized against other calls.”

It is clarified that calls for service regarding face mask violations would remain on a lower priority list than other, more-serious calls, “and attendance to a mask call would likely not take place for some time after the call.”

Three options are expected to be presented to council.

One would be to rescind the city’s mask bylaw, the second would be to extend it in its current state until the end of December, and the third would extend the bylaw to the end of December with “revisions” to allow for extra resources to go to enforcement personnel.

Regardless of the decision, there is still a province-wide face mask requirement that was announced back in November. It will stay in effect until further notice.

READ MORE: Alberta re-declares State of Public Health Emergency, new restrictions announced

The proposal to potentially extend Lethbridge’s face coverings bylaw can be read in full here.

You can provide your feedback on this or any other issue relating to the Community Safety Standing Policy Committee here.

Full details on current COVID-19 restrictions in Alberta can be found here.