Hamilton councillors still want residents to keep their distance

Hamilton’s City councillors still want residents to keep their distance from each other in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, despite the end of the province’s state of emergency last month.

Hamilton’s City councillors still want residents to keep their distance from each other in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, despite the end of the province’s state of emergency last month.

A report before the General Issues Committee (GIC) on Monday (August 10), called for the continuation of Hamilton’s physical distancing by-law that requires members of the community to keep six feet, or two metres, apart.

The by-law was initially ratified in early April and was intended to ‘fill a gap’ in the legislation surrounding the Province’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) that didn’t cover physical distancing.

It was intending to remain in place until the state of emergency was declared over. The provincial emergency officially came to an end on July 24, but under the new Reopening Ontario Act — what the Province dubs as a ‘flexible response to COVID-19’ — which allows for some emergency orders to remain in effect.

However, Hamilton’s current physical distancing by-law is terminated with the end of EMCPA.

In response, the City’s by-law department drafted new physical distancing legislation that is much the same as that ratified in April.

Fines for people not practising physical distancing from people outside their social circle or who obstruct an officer in enforcing the by-law will be $500.

Exceptions to the new by-law include:

a) children who are participating in a day camp that is operated in a manner consistent with the safety guidelines for COVID-19 for summer day camps produced by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health;
b) people in a school or private school within the meaning of the Education Act that is operated in accordance with a return to school direction issued by the Ministry of Education and approved by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health or a school operated by:
i. a band, a council of a band, of the Crown in right of Canada;
ii. an education authority that is authorized by a band, a council of a band or the Crown in right of Canada;
iii. an entity that participates in the Anishinabek Education system;
c) child care providers and children in child care facilities;
d) hospitals, independent health facilities, or offices of regulated health professionals;
e) when driving in a vehicle;
f) where necessary for the purposes of facilitating the purchase of admission, goods or services;
g) where necessary for the provision or receipt of goods and services;
h) where necessary to provide or receive support, services, or other accommodations;
i) where necessary for the purposes of health and safety; and
j) any other person who is exempt from this requirement under provincial or federal legislation.

At Monday’s meeting, councillors were virtually unanimous in their support of the by-law, with one even hoping to have it come into effect sooner rather than later.

Ward 9 councillor Brad Clark said he wanted to see the by-law come into effect immediately to help address overcrowding issues at bars in his ward in Upper Stoney Creek.

Late last month, Public Health confirmed that they contacted Cause & Effect Bar on Stoney Creek mountain after a patron of the eatery tested positive for the virus.

Since this incident was reported, Hamilton residents shared images on social media of the crowded patio at the restaurant reportedly taken on the very night that the eventual COVID-positive patron was there.

The GIC voted to send the report and accompanying by-law to be tabled at the next Council meeting scheduled for Friday, August 21.

Photo courtesy City of Hamilton