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alberta mayors call for vaccine passports

by: ashley joannou a dozen edmonton-area mayors have si...

by: ashley joannou
a dozen edmonton-area mayors have signed an open letter to health minister tyler shandro calling on the province to implement a vaccine passport mandate as some small businesses question whether they will survive without one.
the letter, dated tuesday, is signed by the mayors of edmonton, st. albert, beaumont, parkland county, spruce grove, stony plain, devon, morinville, sturgeon county, strathcona county, leduc country and the city of leduc.
“together, we have the most citizens currently in hospital and in intensive care. these citizens, their loved ones, and a rapidly growing majority of our community members are looking to you to craft public policy that helps protects people and to demonstrate leadership during these difficult times,” it says.
“residents should not be expecting municipal councils to assume public health policy development and responsibilities. further, given the reduction in the province’s grant funding to municipalities, we cannot afford to carry the additional financial burdens.”
premier jason kenney has rejected the notion of a vaccine passport mandate, which would require albertans to show proof of vaccination to access businesses deemed non-essential, a move other provinces have put in place or are rolling out.

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instead, on friday kenney announced alberta was implementing a provincewide mask mandate with the exception of schools where masking is still being left up to the boards. the province also put a 10 p.m. curfew on liquor sales and began offering $100 gift cards to people who get vaccinated between now and oct. 14.
the mayors’ letter also calls for consistent masking rules in schools and improved regional data.
at an unrelated event tuesday, edmonton mayor don iveson said he was happy to sign the letter.
“certainly the edmonton chamber of commerce has been banging the drum for that, the broader business community, and now i think the general public is very, very, almost overwhelmingly in favour of a passport,” he said.
“i think a passport mechanism provides a much more strong and relevant incentive, including for all of us who have already gotten vaccinated, in order to support reopening of our economy than $100 payments to people who held out so far.”
around the province some businesses and venues, including the edmonton elks and oilers, have taken it upon themselves to require proof of vaccination or a negative covid-19 test.
at his friday announcement, kenney said alberta health is doing the policy work to make it possible for people to get a qr code that is machine-readable along with more convenient proof of vaccination documents.

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“we are trying to facilitate people’s choices if they are going into venues that don’t permit unvaccinated individuals,” kenney said.
shandro’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
on tuesday, the ndp reiterated its call for the province to introduce vaccine passports for albertans to enter non-essential businesses and attend mass gatherings.
health critic david shepherd said a mandate is better than an optional qr code in part because it will help increase vaccination levels as the province is struggling with the highest covid-19 rate in the country.
“we have seen in multiple jurisdictions across canada, when governments have just simply announced the fact that they intend to implement a vaccine certification plan, we have seen a significant uptick in first doses,” he said.
ontario, quebec, british columbia and manitoba have rolled out or announced vaccine passports.
rob browatzke, co-owner of evolution wonderlounge in edmonton, said the government’s 10 p.m. curfew on liquor sales has meant a 60 per cent drop in revenue for businesses like his at a time when they have already been closed for most of almost 16 months.

“with that math, at a time when federal subsidies are ending and further provincial support is not coming, it will ensure that by halloween we will be closed. not for a temporary shutdown, for good,” he said at the ndp event.

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“it will mean the end of edmonton’s last gay bar. it will be at the end of a safe space and venue for over 100 queer artists and performers and the end of a hub for fundraising.”
tyson boyd, owner and operator of the starlite room in edmonton, said the location was set to open this past weekend after 19 months but was forced to cancel events because of the new restrictions. he said there are artists who are starting to put a proof of vaccination requirement into their contracts.
“we’re calling upon our municipal, provincial and federal government to implement a vaccine passport immediately in order to efficiently allow us to process large audiences so we can help get our industry back off the ground,” boyd said.
“we need to get back to work, we need to do so safely, and we need these tools in order to adapt and move forward rather than backward.”
— with files from dustin cook

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