The last item up for discussion at last night’s town council meeting in Sackville was the possibility of mandating mask-wearing through a municipal by-law.
Mayor John Higham says there’s been some debate about whether or not municipalities have the jurisdiction to impose mandatory mask rules.
CAO Jamie Burke says the town’s legal counsel is not clear on whether the town has the jurisdiction to require people to wear masks. He also pointed out that a mask bylaw would involve a process at council and three readings at public meetings.
More of a concern, he said, was the idea of enforcement. With one bylaw officer on duty, he said he worried the phone would ring off the hook, especially when students started returning to town in September.
The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has said that masks are already mandatory in New Brunswick, anytime that physical distancing can’t be maintained.
In Nova Scotia, the public health order has taken a slightly different approach, requiring masks at all times inside buildings with general public access. There’s an exception for people once seated in restaurants.
Councillor Allison Butcher said that she found it refreshing to go into a store in Nova Scotia and see mask compliance very close to 100%. Though she would like a mandatory mask rule for Sackville and New Brunswick, Butcher acknowledged the considerable process involved in passing a by-law. She suggested a public education campaign on current mask rules might be called for.
“I wish that we could put up signs that would somehow pleasantly and in a friendly way remind people that New Brunswick does have a mask mandate already. But the mandate is if you’re going to be inside and you can’t guarantee you’re going to be able to stay six feet away from people, you need to have a mask.”
Councillors made other suggestions to increase mask compliance without tackling a town by-law process.
Mayor Higham summarized the plan:
“I think we have a whole set of… we’re not coming to a resolution here, but what we have is several suggestions that I think is actually quite a strategy overall.
One, a letter to the Chief Medical Officer of Health on the question of masks and harmonizing with Nova Scotia’s approach.
Two, asking for education and communication tools that the Chief Medical Officer of Health might have or be willing to produce about masks.
Three, town to consider the public spaces of their public buildings to make it a policy as part of the COVID operational plan, that masks are required.
Four, to entertain, with the BIA, about an inventory of how local businesses are planning to enforce the provincial mandate which does apply to them.
And maybe the fifth thing is for the town to consider, because we’ve been looking for ways to help local businesses, to consider setting aside a little bit of budget for an ability to purchase some of those tools, communication methods, et cetera.”
Mayor Higham said he would work with CAO Jamie Burke to get action on some of these items within the next few weeks.
