After Algoma Public Health announced last Friday that it was issuing a mandatory COVID-19 mask edict to take effect on July 17, most people assumed those living in the district had received their marching orders on wearing masks.
But Monday night at their first regular live meeting in Elliot Lake City Council chambers in months, members of Elliot Lake City Council weren't so sure.
Elliot Lake CAO Daniel Gagnon had prepared a written report on the topic advocating the city rely on public education to get people to wear masks indoors, arguing Elliot Lake was in no position to enforce an outright order with only 2 full-time bylaw officers on staff.
But that was before APH produced its own order. It all sparked a council debate Monday night that lasted nearly an hour.
In the end, council decided to schedule another meeting this Thursday when staff will submit a bylaw with all the points mentioned in the debate.
The idea is to be prepared as Elliot Lake and Algoma move forward along with most of the province to Phase 3, in the process of loosening the province's COVID-19 lockdown protocols, on Friday.
Gagnon said, "In the end, how far do you go? Do you go into the private sector businesses and organizations? And the only way I suggest we do that is with a bylaw. It's meaningless to pass a policy that says every business in Elliot Lake will have a requirement to wear masks."
"But at the moment I'm sensing that at the very least all 7 of you believe we have to have a mass policy for all municipally controlled indoor spaces and transit.
So maybe that's the easiest route. And then we just have a debate over the bylaw."
Mayor Dan Marchisella stated, "I think that as Councillor (Norman) Mann and Councillor (Tom) Turner have pointed out, if we adopt the Algoma Public Health mandated policy as per their website, we're supporting a bylaw to have what's stated on the website as a policy by the seventeenth. We're saying this needs to be done or don't open your doors."
Councillor Norman Mann opined, "This is something we need to do. There are other municipalities and jurisdictions that are doing it. So if you want to start with municipal facilities, that's fine, but I don't think coming back to another council meeting is going to satisfy my need to do this now. If there's a business or a building, and it's a public building, you wear a mask, period."
Councillor Ed Pearce said, "What Councillor Mann is proposing is pretty straightforward. It doesn't muddy the waters in any way, shape or form. What he's asking for is that we implement the APH policy and have it for all buildings in Elliot Lake."
"That is not difficult to do. That has all the exemptions that Councillor (Luc) Cyr wants. On the enforcement issue, we will have to face a whole range of issues going forward. Tonight's not the night for that," continued Pearce.
On another topic, Gagnon told council the Elliot Lake Library may re-open by September after being closed since last February for roof repairs.
He said, "We are cautiously optimistic there will be activity within the week. We should be able to have the roof repaired and access to the library by late summer, or early fall, in September."
"That will also allow us to access the former retail space. Just to clarify for the record, we haven't paid a dime in rent for the retail space or the library since 10 days after it was closed due to the roof leaks."
He said re-opening public washrooms in Pearson Plaza and the library would follow the completion of the roof repairs which are being conducted and paid for by the plaza's Barrie-based landlord.
The Thursday special council meeting will again be held in the City Hall council chamber, with appropriate social distancing and masking procedures in place. Another change is that plexiglass shields have been installed in the chamber as COVID-19 safeguards.
The Thursday start time is 6 p.m. with live streaming of the proceedings on the city of Elliot Lake website. It is expected that just some of that session will be available for public viewing, since a number of closed session items will be on the agenda, as well.