Restriction Exemption Program

The City of Grande Prairie will be implementing provincial measures, including Alberta's Restriction Exemption Program, starting on Monday. This means significant but temporary (hopefully very temporary) changes in many City facilities. More info is on the City website here.

I'll explain a bit about how a decision like this gets made below. But before I do:

I know that there are some in our community who will be disappointed, angry, or fearful over this. If that is you: please, please, please be kind to our frontline staff. They didn't make this decision. They've been through a tonne this year, including most of our recreation and culture staff facing redeployments or layoffs. Despite that, they've done an INCREDIBLE job of serving our community. And whether they agree with this decision or not, they got no more say in it than any other resident. So please be kind to them.

If you are angry about the provincial measures, the appropriate people to let know about that is our MLAs. Their contact info can be found here.

If you are angry about how the City is interpreting and applying provincial measures, the appropriate people to be mad about are City Councillors. Our contact info can be found here.

Please be kind to our staff. But if you have polite questions to ask about how temporary measures are being applied, then it is actually better to talk to staff than to Council: they will have more up to date and full information. You can call 311 or email info@cityofgp.com

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A bit about how decisions like this get made:

It isn't a decision of Council or the Mayor.

This is being driven by provincial health order. The City is a legal entity created by the province, and Council's legal authority all comes from the province. The City doesn't have jurisdiction to modify or reject provincial policy.

However, in this case, the City DID have a choice to make. It could severely limit all use within recreation facilities, or it could take part in the Restriction Exemption Program.

When it came to what route to take, that wasn't a decision of Council. Provincial legislation only allows Council to make decisions via majority vote in an advertised meeting that is open to the public (there hasn't been time for that). Provincial legislation also makes it clear that the City Manger, not Council, gets to make decisions which are operational in nature.

So Council didn't make this decision. Our City Manager did. He did so with far more information than is available to Council, and after several days of full days and evenings of work with department managers. We haven't had an opportunity to debrief with the City Manager yet, so I don't know everything that went into it. But I am confident that he made a very reasonable decision given the options made available to him by the province.

However, I don't say "Council didn't make this decision" to absolve us of responsibility. The City Manager is Council's employee. And Council is ultimately responsible for him. So if you have strong opinions about this decision, Council is absolutely the appropriate people to hold accountable. Which goes back to what I said before: please be kind to our frontline staff.