City councillor calls meeting to address Calgary's pandemic response

As COVID-19 case counts continue to rise in Calgary and across Alberta, a city councillor has scheduled a committee meeting to discuss Calgary’s pandemic response.

Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra, who also serves as the Chair of the Emergency Management Committee, has called a meeting to consider how the city can best serve Calgarians through the evolving challenges of COVID-19, including the Delta variant.

The Emergency Management Committee consists of all council members who serve on the Standing Policy Committee on Community and Protective Services of the City. The Committee advises Calgary city council about the development of emergency plans and programs.

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In an open letter to his colleagues, Carra says that, given the current situation surrounding the ongoing pandemic, it is “prudent” to have a conversation with Council and the City about what options should be considered for the safety of Calgarians.

As Chair of the Emergency Management Committee, I have called a meeting to discuss how we can best serve Calgarians through the evolving challenges of COVID & the #DeltaVariant

All members of #yyccc are invited to participate. The public can tune in via livestream. Fri, 1PM. pic.twitter.com/8pEHVM3bON

— Gian-Carlo Carra (@gccarra) August 31, 2021

While Carra didn’t directly reveal any insight about what options will be discussed in the meeting, the city councillor retweeted a number of posts from citizens calling for the city’s mask mandate to be reinstated.

The Face Covering Bylaw came into effect in Calgary on August 1, 2020, just before Alberta Premier Jason Kenney put a mask mandate in place province-wide.

The city’s face mask requirement was expected to remain in effect until at least December 2021. However, it was lifted on July 5, after council voted 10-4 in favour of repealing the bylaw.

City councillors Druh Farrell and Jyoti Gondek expressed support for Carra calling a meeting to discuss the pandemic response in Calgary.

Well done. Thank you @gccarra. https://t.co/nsTd4lcYla

— Druh Farrell (@DruhFarrell) August 31, 2021

Thank you, @gccarra – we are finally booked to discuss the pandemic response at a municipal level. Tune in on Friday at 1 pm, folks. #yyccc https://t.co/WcaOtF7EKf

— Jyoti Gondek (@JyotiGondek) August 31, 2021

The meeting is scheduled for 1 pm on Friday, September 3, and Carra noted that all members of Calgary’s City Council are invited to participate in the meeting. The public can tune in via livestream.

The announcement of this meeting came the day after Edmonton re-introduced a mandatory mask mandate, which takes effect on Friday and will remain in place until Edmonton’s case count is below 100 cases per 100,000 people for at least 10 consecutive days.