Edmonton may keep mask bylaw until 70 per cent of its population fully vaccinated

EDMONTON — Edmonton’s mayor says he is considering a request from a doctors group that he and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi keep masking bylaws in place until at least 70 per cent of their cities’ eligible populations have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Don Iveson said during a media briefing Tuesday that he’s concerned about lifting masking bylaws in lockstep with the final stage of the Alberta government’s reopening plan.

Last week, the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association sent a letter to both mayors that expressed concern about the pace of the province’s plan, given that a variant first identified in India is able to infect two-thirds of people who have only had a single dose.

“This reckless relaxing of precautions and allowing super-spreader events to take place is likely to jeopardize the smooth reopening of schools and workplaces in the fall,” the association wrote in a Thursday letter addressed to the mayors.

Iveson said the doctors’ groups that have issued warnings about reopening plans “have been right every time.”

“So their track record speaks for itself and I take their input very seriously.”

Nenshi said in an email Tuesday that Calgary city council plans to discuss its face-covering bylaw and is weighing all options.

“The safety and protection of our community remains our priority, and will guide our decisions,” he said.

Iveson said he and Nenshi have agreed to keep in touch as both city councils debate the issue.

In Calgary, there is also a debate about the timing of masking bylaws and the Calgary Stampede that is expected to start in early July.

“Albertans may travel to the Stampede for something to do, so it’s also by proxy an issue for our citizens and for our doctors,” Iveson said.

“If people get sick and come home or if things get bad in Calgary and they need to overflow to here, those are all knock-on impacts to our community and to our health-care workers.”

The province has said Stage 3 of its reopening plan, which could happen as early as June 24, would see all health restrictions lifted as long as 70 per cent of Albertans 12 and over had received at least one shot.

Premier Jason Kenney has said the province is ready to go ahead Thursday with its second stage, which allows up to 20 people at outdoor gatherings, weddings and funeral services, but still bans indoor gatherings.

It also allows indoor recreation, entertainment and other settings to open at a third of the venue’s fire code occupancy. Gyms and fitness studios can open for solo and drop-in activities, as well indoor fitness classes with proper distancing. Restaurants can have a maximum of six people per table, indoors or outdoors.

Outdoor public gatherings such as concerts and festivals can have up to 150 people.

To reach Stage 2, 60 per cent of eligible Albertans had to have at least one shot. Kenney noted that about 67 per cent had already received one dose.

But he also said 115,000 more people need to get their first shot within the next week if the final stage is to go ahead later this month.

There were 100,000 bookings for the next week, Kenney added.

The province reported 139 new cases of COVID-19 and three new deaths Tuesday.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said 336 people are in hospital due to the virus, including 85 in intensive care.

There were 4,431 active cases provincewide – the lowest number Alberta has seen since March 9.

She said 15 per cent of Albertans are fully immunized, but confirmed that the pace of first dose vaccinations has slowed – particularly for Albertans between the ages of 12 and 34.

Hinshaw said about five per cent of the variants identified in Alberta last week were the highly contagious one that was first identified in India. It is now driving a wave of new cases in the United Kingdom.

Recent studies have indicated that a single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna is about 33 per cent effective against that variant.

While Hinshaw said that variant “is a very small proportion” of Alberta’s total cases, the province is watching it closely as it considers the timing of second doses.

Currently, anyone vaccinated with their first shot in April can book a second dose starting June 14 and those vaccinated in May can book starting June 28.

Hinshaw defended the reopening plan, saying that “the absence of legal requirements doesn’t mean that we stop protecting each other.”

“We still need to be courteous, respect each other’s needs and that could mean masking in certain settings, even if it is not legally required,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.

2 out of 3 eligible Albertans have now had a first COVID-19 shot as province reports 139 new cases Tuesday

Leave a reply

‘Islamophobia is real’: Victims of London, Ont. vehicle attack mourned at vigil

Leave a reply

TORONTO — Thousands gathered for a vigil mourning the four Muslim family members killed in what police say was a targeted attack in London, Ont., with politicians and community leaders condemning Islamophobia in Canada and promising change.

A statement released to the media by a family spokesperson names the deceased as Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha Salman, their daughter Yumna, and Salman Afzaal’s mother.

The couple’s son, Fayez, 9, survived the attack. He “is on the road to recovery from serious injuries,” the statement reads.

Nathaniel Veltman, a 20-year-old London man, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with Sunday’s attack. London police said Tuesday that they have been in contact with the RCMP and would not comment on whether further charges may be laid.

“While we understand the public’s desire for information, we are mindful that there are serious charges before the courts and that we must let the judicial process unfold,” they said in a statement.

Police allege that Veltman was driving a pickup truck that mounted a curb and hit the family, who were out for a walk. Police said Monday that they were not aware of any connections between Veltman and the Afzaal family, or any link between the suspect and organized hate groups.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described Veltman’s actions as “a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred.”

A vigil for the Afzaals is scheduled to take place Tuesday night at the London Muslim Mosque, which the family attended, with distancing protocols observed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trudeau, Ont. Premier Doug Ford and other political leaders will be in attendance.

REMEMBERING THE AFZAALS

Dr. Ahmed Hegazy, a family friend, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday that he had first met the Afzaals 14 years ago at the mosque, and that two days after their deaths, his shock had yet to dissipate.

He described Salman Afzaal as “very helpful to everybody, really just somebody who’d go out of his way to help people. His wife was no different.”

Another family friend, Saboor Khan, described them as “gems in our community” and “the best of people.”

“Everybody looked up to them, because of how hard they worked,” he said.

Yasmin Khan, a family friend and activist who is speaking at Tuesday night’s vigil, called the family “amazing people” and “pure souls”

“They were the type of people that wouldn’t even hurt an insect,” she told CTV News Channel’s Power Play. “They were always there for people. If you did wrong upon them, and the next day you needed help, they would be first at your doorstep.”

Khan added that the community will do its best to raise Fayez, who is now orphaned because of the attack.

“Family is here and we are all doing what we can to support him,” she said. “He is everyone’s son now… We will do as much as we can, because that is what our sister and brother would’ve wanted.”

Dozens visited the crash scene on Monday night to pay their own tributes to the family, many placing flowers and teddy bears in their memory. The scene continued to draw visitors on Tuesday, with one man telling reporters that he brought his young son there “to make clear to him that hatred has no place here.”

The mayor of London, Ed Holder, told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday that the city is supporting its Muslim community in its grief.

“This kind of thing, you always imagine, happens somewhere else,” he said.

“This is the time when we’ve lost our innocence.”

FAMILY URGES ALL TO ‘STAND AGAINST HATE’

The family’s statement calls for everyone, from politicians to the public, to “stand against hate and Islamophobia” in favour of humanity.

“We need to understand that the destruction of a family in the brutal and horrific manner like this is something we must all stand against,” the statement reads.

Yasmin Khan, who began wearing a hijab at age 14, said she routinely deals with rude comments or anger because of what she’s wearing.

“It’s something that’s normal for me now to have people uncomfortable with me, to have people speak to me rudely,” she said.

Khan has now committed to wearing her hijab with pride, as Yumna had done.

“She was walking with so much pride and love for (her hijab), I’m going to walk every single day with so much love for this,” she said. “The moment we let people know that we have fear, we let people win. I’m not going to let anyone win.”

Monday’s attack has been condemned by politicians across Canada and around the world, including Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who called it a sign of growing Islamophobia in Western countries. Friends say the Afzaals were well known within London’s Pakistani-Muslim community.

Samer Majzoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum, told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday that the attack should be considered domestic terrorism.

“We have to name it in order to be able to address it,” he said.

“Innocent people have just been killed for what they are, and still we are hesitant to call it what it is.”

Majzoub said that he has seen progress on fighting Islamophobia since the deadly 2017 shooting at a mosque in Quebec City, but that it has mainly come in the form of words, not actions.

“I do not deny that we have advanced in fighting hate and xenophobia, at least on the rhetoric side, but so far we haven’t seen … policies addressing [them],” he said.

Saboor Khan, who is also the president of the London chapter of the Muslim Association of Canada, echoed those sentiments, saying that his family lives in the same neighbourhood as the Afzaal family and goes out for walks every day.

“This could have been any one of us,” he said.

“We have to think about what actions are needed to stop this kind of hate and this kind of violence.”

POLITICAL LEADERS PROMISE ACTION

Canadian political leaders attended the vigil held for the family and said some words to the community and mourners gathered in remembrance.

“Islamophobia is real, racism is real. You should not have to face that hate in your communities, in your country. We can and we will act,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We must all stand together and say, no, no, to hatred and to Islamophobia, no to terror and to racism.”

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole shared a similar message: that party leaders need to put politics aside to deal with Islamophobia in Canada.

“We have to commit ourselves to working across party lines. With premiers, with mayors, with faith leaders, to end the kind of violence and hatred that took these lives,” he said at the vigil.

“The rise in Islamophobia and other forms of hate in this last year are the pandemic of darkness.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took to the podium amid cheers from the mourning crowd.

“We will not let terror win,” he told mourners.

And like many of the people attending the vigil, he emphasized that words are not enough.

“What we need to do now is real action after this act. How many more lives have to be taken before we act? How many more Muslim brothers and sisters have to lose their lives before real change is put in place? We need real action.”

Green Party Leader Annamie Paul said that she wants to be a voice for the community after this attack.

“As the leader of our party, I stand in solidarity and I also promise you this, that my voice will be your voice. I am not there to impose my agenda, I am there to reflect what you tell me you need at this moment. That is my commitment to you.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also spoke to mourners at the vigil. He thanked those who rushed to the scene and first responders and called the attack terrorism and a hate crime.

“We know only that this awful crime was motivated purely by hatred and racism. As Mayor Holder has said, this was murder. It was a hate crime. It was an act of terrorism against a family,” he said.

Ontario’s NDP and official opposition leader Andrea Horwath told mourners that these types of attacks must end and that no one should have to be afraid to go about their life.

“These hate fueled acts of terrorism must stop. No one should fear walking with their loved ones on a street, on a spring evening,” she said.

Horwath added that people in Ontario must acknowledge the existence of this hatred in the province and the fear that Muslim people deal with in Canada.

“We must admit this, that is the first step, we must as Ontarians admit this. It is a very real, very familiar fear facing Muslims because of Islamophobic, white supremacist violence and hate.

If you need mental health help in the wake of the London, Ont. vehicle attack, support and resources are available here.

With files from CTV News London, CTVNews.ca producer Rachel Aiello, CTVNews.ca Writer Ben Cousins, CTV National News correspondent Merella Fernandez, and The Canadian Press