Hands are tied in Okotoks when it comes to enforcing the new COVID rules on a municipal level.

The acting manager for Okotoks Municipal Enforcement, officer Sam Burnett, says they haven't been given the same authority by the province to enforce rules as before.

"When the new CMOH orders came out, I inquired with the solicitor general and the Government of Alberta to determine if we're going to have authority to enforce those new measures and the word I got back was no."

He says they are still able to offer some level of support to businesses in regards to their private property rights.

"If you want to be on their premises, you have to abide by their rules. And if you're not going to abide by their rules or the provincial government rules at that point, we can assist those businesses in getting people off that property, but that's about the extent of our enforcement capacity when it comes to the new CMOH orders."

Those limitations go for concerns around masking, physical distancing, and vaccine passports.

"Those complaints, for us to deal with those, have to come from business owners."

That means they can respond to situations arising from the restrictions but in a roundabout sort of way.

"If we have businesses that are trying to follow the rules, which means they're asking for proof of vaccination, and people don't want to provide that and go into the store, then they're in violation of that business’s rule to be on that premises, and we can deal with them under trespassing legislation."

Officer Burnett says it's not about wanting to punish people for not following the rules but rather being able to help resolve tensions between businesses and customers regarding public health orders.

"I think over the course of the last two years we've issued a combined total of five COVID tickets. And a lot of it was education and gaining voluntary compliance through asking people to leave stores, getting people out of the area, pulling people aside, and explaining to them the difference between being upset at the rules that the government has created and being upset at the business for trying to keep their doors open."

He doesn't see these issues disappearing anytime soon but hopes that the province will provide them the capacity to assist local businesses with enforcement of the rules to the same degree they had with previous restrictions before the summer.

"Having the authority is not because we want to go and write tickets. That's really not the point, but we want to be there to support our local community, support our businesses, and be that buffer for our community, and try and have the capacity to help solve some of those problems that have come out of these CMOH orders. And I guess that's the frustration is kind of having your hands tied when everybody is looking at you for assistance."

 

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