The Town of Okotoks is following in the footsteps of the province in gradually removing health restrictions in public facilities, which began Wednesday.
During a Feb. 8 conference, Premier Jason Kenney announced the Restriction Exemption Program (REP) would officially expire as of midnight, eliminating the requirement for businesses to ask for proof of vaccination or a negative test result from patrons prior to entry.
That afternoon, the town announced it would follow suit, no longer requiring vaccination proof from individuals entering buildings such as the Pason Centennial Arenas, the Okotoks Art Gallery, the Rotary Performing Arts Centre and other municipal facilities.
Mayor Tanya Thorn said there wasn't significant discussion on the subject by council of the day, as the previous council had decided to move away from a municipal-directed pandemic plan.
Thorn explained this is due to the lack of specific health data provided to municipal officials for decision-making purposes.
"We're going to stick and follow with the guidance that has been provided to us from the province on files that is theirs to understand," she said.
Capacity limits for venues not covered under the REP, including the art gallery, RPAC and the Okotoks Museum and Archives have also been removed, however limits for large venues continue to be in effect. Food and drink are now permitted to be served and consumed in big facilities when seated and liquor sales are still required to end at 11 p.m.
As of Feb. 14, masks are no longer mandatory in town-owned and operated facilities for those 12 and younger. They are still required in other public spaces and private businesses.
The town previously had it's own municipal spaces mask directive, Bylaw 28-20, which required masking in all its buildings, as well as Bylaw 31-20 which mandated masking in all public spaces.
Bylaw 28-20 was ultimately rescinded given it's redundancy in relation to 31-20, which was repealed by council in June 2021, ahead of the provincial mandate lifting July 1.
Thorn said the town will continue to follow the province's restriction removal, including mandatory masking.
As everyone adjusts to various adjustments to public life in the upcoming weeks, the mayor said it is important to remain kind and respectful to one another regardless of one's stance on an issue.
"I think that — just like when they came into place — there's going to be two sides and two ways that people feel about this," she said. "I would encourage our community [to remember] we're all neighbours here and we need to find a way to continue to come together and respect individual choices because there may be people in the community that will still continue to wear masks.
"Just choose to be kind and respect the decisions that somebody who's wearing a mask is making and somebody that's not wearing a mask is making."
*Editor's note: A previous edition of this story erroneously said masks were not mandatory for 12 and older, that has since been corrected. The Wheel apologizes for any inconvenience.
