Saskatoon city council votes to drop mask mandate for leisure facilities, civic buildings starting next week

Saskatoon city council is ending mask mandates at leisure facilities and civic buildings beginning Monday, April 4.

Mandatory masking will remain on buses for at least the month of April.

Ward 2 Coun. Hilary Gough voted to keep masks on buses, saying transit is a unique space.

"The reality is that we do have quite a number of cases and hospitalizations and ongoing deaths [and] that we don't rush to remove the level of protection that is within our control," Gough said.

Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill said masking should stay on buses because of poor air filtration and tight spaces.

"Transit is an essential service for many citizens in Saskatoon," Hill said. "There are no other choices for them to move about the city, whether they are grocery shopping, getting to work, getting to school, or just the daily necessities of life."

Administration had recommended that masking be optional for all civic facilities and transit.

Pamela Goulden-McLeod, the city's director of emergency management, saidlocal medical health officers supported removing mask mandates on buses.

"Along with the fact that we are still encouraging masking on transit and will be providing masks on transit," Goulden-McLeod told council.

Ward 3 Coun. David Kirton was one of three councillors that wanted to see the ask mandate dropped on buses.

"There hasn't been a real time when we haven't listened to the medical health officer from the beginning [of the pandemic]," Kirton said. "So I would ask then why would we change that now? You have heard from the medical health officer who supports lifting of masks from transit."

Council will revisit the transit masking policy in April.

School, playground speed zones

Council also finalized its policy regarding speed zones for schools and playgrounds, confirmingspeed limits of 30 km/h in school zones from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST year-round.

It also voted to extend those speed limits and times to some playgrounds, and to remove them from most high schools.

The new zones and hours are projected to be in place by the start of the new school year in September.

Council had previously voted on the changes in November and was voting Monday to formally implement thedecision.

"I was against the 7 [a.m.] to 7 [p.m.] times [in November] and I still am today, said Ward 4 Coun. Troy Davies, who was one of five councillors to vote against the recommendation.

Two schools that didn't fall under the criteria for reduced speed zones, cole Henry Kelsey (near 33rd Street) and St. Mary's Community School (just off 20th Street), will not have their school zones removed until after a safety audit has been completed.

Gough was happy with the recommendation to keep school speed zones at those two schools.

"I and others heard from stakeholders at these schools that there was concern that removing the school zone would be a lower level of service when it came to safety for students at the school," Gough said.