Lack of communication over COVID-19 between City of Saskatoon, province 'troubling': premier

Premier Scott Moe has weighed in on a City of Saskatoon motion that will look at creating its own gathering limits within the city.

On Monday, councillors voted in favour of looking into the possibility of writing a city bylaw to restrict gathering sizes in Saskatoon. For months, Saskatoon has led the province in COVID-19 cases. Council says it wants to find a measure to help keep new cases in check.

Speaking to CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning on Tuesday, Premier Moe said he learned about the motion through the media.

"This is even a little bit troubling, actually, for the government of Saskatchewan," said Moe.

"[It's] a little bit unfortunate with respect to the communication lines that seem to have broken down with the City of Saskatoon, but I'm sure that'll improve in the days ahead." 

The issue first began three weeks ago, when the City of Saskatoon sent a letter to the provincial government, asking for city-specific gathering limits.

Among other items, the city asked for a limit of 15 people at private gatherings, which includes gatherings at home.

However, the provincial government told the city in its own letter that no further limits on gatherings were being considered at that time.

In response, councillors voted in favour of looking into creating their own bylaw.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said he would have preferred to see the province institute the order, but council felt it had to do something to decrease COVID-19 cases.

As of Monday's COVID-19 update from the province, the city had 859 active cases.

"Medical health officers have said that they feel that, given the crisis situation that we're in, we need to be doing everything we can to try and mitigate the spread of COVID," said Clark.

"So, we're just exploring all options and wanting to know as a city that we're doing everything we can." 

'We know there's a crisis right now': Clark

Clark said that he has a regular line of communication with Minister of Government Relations Don McMorris and regularly participated in a weekly phone call with the province and Saskatchewan's mayors.

While Moe noted Clark had been absent from the last two phone calls, Clark said he was flying to Ottawa for a meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for one meeting and had to deal with an emergency situation for the other.

He also said members of the mayor's office had been present at both calls.

"The minister's calls with municipal relations have been a really useful tool," said Clark.

"If you ask any mayors, I've been one of the most active members throughout the course of the pandemic."

City of Saskatoon administration has been asked to look into whether it would even be possible for a municipal government to bring in its own gathering limits. Traditionally, the provincial government has been responsible for any measures related to health, which includes placing limits on gathering sizes.

Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, Regina city council voted to close all non-essential businesses and limit gatherings to just five people. That move was overruled by the province. 

Clark said it's still not clear whether Saskatoon has the power to bring in its own limits, but council feels it's important to investigate.

"City council is investigating all options because we know that it's urgent," he said. 

"We know there's a crisis right now and we want to get through it." 

The city has placed restrictions on municipal facilities like leisure centres and city-owned arenas. As of Oct. 15, anyone 12 and older must show proof of vaccination or a negative test result to enter the building. 

Other city facilities like libraries and city hall were exempt from the requirements, as they were deemed to be essential services.