Proof of vaccination policy should be handled by staff: deputy mayor

PORT HAWKESBURY — With Nova Scotia's proof of full vaccination policy set to take effect Oct. 4, there is already concern over who should be responsible for overseeing the policy at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.

Blaine MacQuarrie, the town's deputy mayor, told council during Tuesday's virtual committee of the whole meeting meeting that with the multi-purpose facility operating a rink, a fitness centre, meetings and more, that responsibility for mandating the new vaccination policy should fall to town staff rather than volunteer groups for sporting events.

“There had been suggestions made by some folks involved in minor hockey (in the area) that individual teams may have to be responsible for asking for proof of vaccination coming into the area,” MacQuarrie told the Cape Breton Post on Wednesday. “And a number of people were really concerned, and one person particularly upset about it. As volunteers, they don't feel that they should be put in a position to ask for that private information.”

“But it's also not a good position for staff to be in, either. Going forward, I'm sure that our staff will come up with a reasonable plan, and we'll go with the guidance that the province provides as well.”

The province's proof of vaccination policy would apply to businesses and organizations offering indoor and outdoor recreation and leisure activities, as well as fitness establishments, like gyms and yoga studios, plus sport and recreation facilities, such as arenas, pools and large multi-purpose recreation facilities.

After MacQuarrie posed his query of who would look after proof of vaccination for civic centre patrons, Gordie Snook, the town's manager of facilities, operations and parks, responded: “That's the milliondollar question.

“We're just in the midst of developing our own policy,” Snook added. “In the past, we would put tasks like that on to user groups, which worked really well for contact tracing names and numbers. I'm not sure if that's still going to be the case, or something different.” MacQuarrie said based on the public reaction throughout the recent federal election, proof-of-vaccination policies appear to be creating a divide among people.

“It's a very hot topic,” he said. “There are some people who have been very hostile to the whole vaccination issue and it's caused a lot of rancour throughout the whole country.”

As MacQuarrie told Snook, “my concern is that when you mention user groups. those are volunteers that are involved with the hockey programs. I personally don't believe we should be asking those parents to take on that responsibility. That's something the town is going to need to look at.”

Snook reiterated that he could not come up with a specific answer at the moment.

“Hopefully, we'll have something that's going to be developed into a policy that we can share in the near future.”

Chief administrative officer Terry Doyle told council this wouldn't be a policy but more an “implementation of a provincial law. We will certainly be clearing with council and looking for your feedback. Everybody realizes that direction from the province has not been received yet. But we're getting more information as days go on, and we're trying to put that together to see what this would look like.”

Did that satisfy MacQuarrie's concerns?

“Gordie would have to defer to Terry, but I was certainly very satisfied with Terry's response,” the deputy mayor said.