(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

Up To The Challenge

Prince Albert mayor reacts to federal election results and provincial health restrictions

Sep 21, 2021 | 3:16 PM

Almost 33,000 voters in the Prince Albert area came out to vote in the federal election yesterday. This is a total of 57.4 per cent of registered voters in the riding.

Sixty-five per cent of those voters casted their vote for incumbent MP, Randy Hoback. He will now represent the riding for a fifth straight term, sitting in that chair since 2008.

“It does give us a strong connection in Ottawa,” Greg Dionne, Mayor of Prince Albert told paNOW. “Of course, you always want to have a strong relationship with a member of government. We will continue to work with the tools we have.”

Although a big change can not be seen directly on the surface, the mayor did talk about a few of the promises the Liberal government made when re-elected.

“They did commit more money to infrastructure and to continue to help with water, sewer, and other big projects,” Dionne said. “We are certainly going to hold them to it.

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“There is going to be some uncertainty for the first month or so, until the government sorts itself out on their direction, and then we will start applying for infrastructure money.”

Provincial COVID restrictions

Last week the provincial government made a province-wide mandate for masking indoors on Sept. 17 and proof of vaccination, on Oct. 1.

Prior to the provincial mandate, Prince Albert enforced mandatory masking in all city facilities, something the mayor and councillors thought was unfair on them.

“It was about time, strictly because it’s a provincial problem,” Dionne said. “COVID is not just restricted to Prince Albert.

“We are pleased that the government is on board and will start working together with us.”

He added he will be meeting virtually every Tuesday with the 16 other Saskatchewan mayors, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the provincial minister of municipal affairs, the Saskatchewan Safety Agency, and a business response team for a weekly COVID-19 update.

He said during the meeting he asked if it is true that Saskatchewan and Alberta are the two lowest provinces in Canada in terms of vaccination rates, and the response he got was that yes, it is true.

“The reason I asked that with all the other mayors there, is because it tells us the challenge we have in front of us. But, we are solid, we are strong ‘Saskatchewan-ites’ and we will get through this.”

After a virtual meeting this morning, the mayor had an update on how to apply for a proof of vaccination card.

“Before when you phoned, you had to get a pin number, they have dropped that because it was causing too many problems,” Dionne said. “When you phone in now, you will use your drivers license number as your ID.”

He added the province encourages municipalities to bring in similar vaccination rules for staff, and that will be discussed at the next city council meeting in Prince Albert on Sept. 27.

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Dawson.thompson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @dawsonthompson8