Saskatoon city council passes motion to make masks mandatory again at civic facilities

As of Wednesday masking will once again be mandatory at Saskatoon's indoor city facilities and when riding buses. Meanwhile, city employees will soon need to be tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis.

Saskatoon city council passed those motions on Monday evening.

The city is essentially returning to the COVID protective measures it had prior to the province lifting most restrictions on July 11.

Those policies will return with the additional requirement that that city employees be required to get tested.

Regular mandatory COVID-19 rapid tests for all city staff who report to the workplace will begin in the middle of September, regardless of their vaccination status.

Council also passed motions calling for administration to look into how some form of vaccine requirement for employees might be implemented, and to report back on how the provincial government's upcoming proof of vaccination could be used at civic events and facilities.

Coun. Zach Jeffries, who introduced two of the motions, said the province is not providing leadership on these issues and it is up to municipalities to step up.

"We are going to take some leadership as it relates to COVID in our community and I think that's a good thing," Jeffries said.

"I think we are doing so on the basis of care for others, care for our health-care system and doing so within our jurisdiction (and) within what is legal."

"We are not mandating vaccines today," said Mayor Charlie Clark. "We are getting a report back on how and what mechanisms could be put in place that would help to assess and navigate, and potentially, have specific requirements whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated."

Clark said it is important council gets as much information as it can on how it can combat COVID-19.

"I believe choice is something that will always need to be built into the system, but there are also some consequences or conditions to the choice if people decide that they are not going to be vaccinated," Clark said.

Council's decisions come on the same day the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced they will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend home games beginning Sept. 17.

Saskatoon's mandatory masking motion was passed unanimously, while the other three motions were opposed by councillors Randy Donauer, Troy Davies and Darren Hill.

All three questioned whether the city can legally implement some form of vaccine mandate.

"I think we need to stay on the right side of the law on this one and it is a pretty big jump to go from masking to requiring vaccinations, or telling our staff or the public you have to get tested or you can voluntarily give us your private medical information" Donauer said. "I'm not sure how that is going to go over legally."

Right now people can get vaccination documentation from a personal MySaskHealthRecord (MSHR) account at eHealth Saskatchewan. Work is underway to include a digital QR code to the MSHR vaccination record in early fall.

Earlier in the day council heard Saskatoon-area medical health officer Dr. Jasmine Hasselback give a COVID update. 

Hasselback and her colleagues recommended masking indoors, whether or not you are vaccinated, and for council to look at having some type of immunization requirement or negative test for some settings and activities like exercise classes.

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As of Monday, Saskatoon has 652 known active cases of COVID-19.

Coun. Bev Dubois, who supported all four motions, said council has to do something.

"It is for the health and safety of our employees and of the people that use our civic facilities," she said. "And if that's what we have to look at doing, then that's what I'm going to do because it is important to keep people safe.

Clark said Saskatchewan has the second highest COVID cases in the country behind only Alberta, and Saskatoon is the hotspot in the province.

"We have heard from the provincial government that they are looking to each municipality, each organization, to make decisions about how to protect employees and protect the public," he said.

"So we are acting within our jurisdiction to take steps to do that, especially given the circumstances that we have."