Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland will send a letter to Premier Jason Kenney in support of provincial implementation of a proof of vaccination policy.
Council directed the mayor to write the letter during its committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 14.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a relevant thing to be considering now how we support local businesses,鈥� Ireland said, noting the latest health restrictions that came in at the start of September.
鈥淭hey seem to be targeted heavily at the food and beverage sector, which is a large sector of our local economy. They鈥檙e hurt measurably by those restrictions and yet there might be another way to approach the issue of safety without the closures that have been imposed.鈥�
Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey supported the idea and mentioned how many local businesses would welcome this policy.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 hard for businesses to bring in that on their own, but if it鈥檚 province-wide, I think it鈥檚 the way to go,鈥� Kelleher-Empey said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going into the fourth wave whether we like it or not 鈥� there could be a fifth wave 鈥� but I think to protect ourselves and to protect our community and to keep our economy going, I think we need to ask Premier Kenney to step up and bring this in like other provinces.鈥�
Coun. Jenna McGrath noted that it was an uncomfortable subject to debate publicly and also wanted to know all the details of the policy before supporting it.
鈥淭here are people medically unable to receive this vaccination, and I don鈥檛 see them being exempt in British Columbia, which poses its own concerns for advocacy for me, because when I advocate for something, I want to be sure of what I鈥檓 advocating for.鈥�
Ireland added that council should consider a proof of vaccine policy for municipal facilities.
Administration was directed to return to committee of the whole with either a draft policy for proof of vaccination or a report on the ramifications of such a policy.
Paid parking
CAO Bill Given provided an update on the paid parking pilot project.
Since the pilot project launched on July 21, bylaw officers have issued 2,021 warnings and 23 tickets.
鈥淎s a reminder to council and the community, we鈥檙e taking a very light-hand approach to enforcement in this initial pilot project year and tickets are only issued after a previous warning has been issued and there鈥檚 continued non-compliance,鈥� Given said.
The municipality has issued 174 senior passes and 239 resident passes.
There have been 18,946 tap payments and 56 physical payments at the municipal office, generating a net revenue of $35,502.
McGrath noted how some residents were concerned how staff time was not included in the net revenue.
Given assured that paid parking would pay for itself, and added that administration would report on staffing hours in depth once the project concludes.
Coun. Paul Butler said he was a little surprised by the public pushback against paid parking.
鈥淢y problem is I don't know whether I鈥檓 hearing sort of a very vocal minority who are just absolutely not in favour of paid parking, or whether it鈥檚 sort of a community-wide opposition.鈥�
Butler suggested that a plebiscite on paid public parking occur alongside the municipal election on Oct. 18 to give the next council 鈥渁 clear go-forward.鈥�
Coun. Scott Wilson said it was too late to begin that process, noting that council wouldn鈥檛 have a final report on the pilot project before the election.
Mayor Ireland agreed that a plebiscite might be premature.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that council won鈥檛 have the information by the time of the election. Neither will the public.鈥�
Vaccination campaign
In response to direction from council, Community and Family Services and the municipality鈥檚 communications team collaboratively developed a campaign to promote vaccination.
鈥淲e drew somewhat from the social norms research and decided to put the effort into those who are procrastinating versus those who are resistant, because that is perhaps where we would have the most success and the most ability to persuade,鈥� said Kathleen Waxer, director of Community and Family Services.
The campaign is intended to be light-hearted and specific to Jasper, using animal imagery to reflect Jasper鈥檚 fauna and appeal to multiple age groups.
It also uses the tagline 鈥淏e the reason Jasper has a winter season.鈥�
One hundred posters have been handed out to various businesses and other locations around town for display.
A social media campaign was launched and is currently running with the first call to action being the vaccination bus and the new one focusing on the AHS booking site.
