St. Albert city council will be meeting on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. to figure out how local facilities will be impacted by the slew of public-health restrictions that were implemented by the provincial government on Wednesday night.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron tweeted on Wednesday night that she will be calling the meeting, and needs four of her council colleagues to agree to call the meeting if it is being called in less than 24 hours.
The mayor and council will be responding to a press conference, held by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Minister of Health Tyler Shandro, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, who announced the provincial health-care system is in the worst position it has been in since the pandemic began.
"We are facing an emergency that requires immediate action,” Kenney said.
The provincial plan is to implement sweeping restrictions, including limits on indoor social gatherings, restrictions on businesses and public recreation centres, along with a vaccine passport system for exemptions.
The City of St. Albert oversees multiple public recreation facilities, including swimming pools, gyms, and arenas, which will fall under the new restrictions.
Adult sport, fitness, performance, and recreation will have indoor activities limited, with no indoor group classes or activities permitted. One-on-one training or individual workouts are permitted but three-metre physical distancing is required, no contact between players, and indoor competitions are paused (except where vaccine exemptions have been granted). These facilities and programs are eligible to implement the Restrictions Exemption Program.
St. Albert city council will be discussing how local facilities will be impacted.