Premier Kenney marked the lifting of almost all COVID-19 restrictions March 1 at a press conference in Red Deer (Your Alberta/YouTube)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Hatters, local government leaders react to province lifting almost all restrictions

Mar 1, 2022 | 5:39 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB- Alberta’s premier officially marked the lifting of almost all restrictions today as the province entered Stage 2 of its reopening plan.

“Friends after these past two years. We have finally turned a major corner on COVID-19 . All of the data both here and around the world says the worst of COVID-19 is behind us,” Kenney said this morning at a press conference in Red Deer.

Capacity limits on venues, social gathering limits, and mandatory work from home requirements have been lifted. The provincial mask mandate has also been lifted, but masks are still required in high-risk settings like public transit, and AHS facilities.

The announcement also quashes all remaining school requirements and youth screening for sports and entertainment activities.

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Still, Hatters had plenty to say as they took in the first day.

“We haven’t been following a lot of it anyway. We stay healthy and fit, so we weren’t scared too much,” one man said.

“I’m glad for the businesses but not completely certain it is the best choice for all members of the public,” another man added.

Business owners in the hospitality sector like Jeremy Knodel are also feeling relieved. All public health restrictions in bars and restaurants have been removed. Knodel said he has already seen a boost in business ever since the province eliminated the Restrictions Exemption Program last month.

“I had to increase our staff hours, all those kinds of things, so it made a huge difference, and today people are just happy to come in and see faces again,” he said.

Premier Kenney said to eliminate any uncertainty around the rules, municipalities won’t be able to implement their own public health restrictions.

The UCP government plans to introduce amendments to the Municipal Government Act in the legislature as soon as possible.

Brooks mayor John Petrie whose community was at the centre of a major outbreak in 2020 says he is not opposed to the province taking that step.

“They have the resources to make those key decisions. In a small community like Brooks here we don’t have the resources like that so we have to put a little faith in the provincial government. Now at the other end though I would like to see them consult the municipalities before they do anything though, and I think it is important that they talk to mayors of Calgary, Medicine Hat, Brooks or wherever,” Petrie said.

Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark was unable to provide a comment.

In an emailed statement, Cypress County said they are optimistic about the move to fewer health restrictions.

As for moving to step three, which would remove all public health restrictions, such as the mandatory isolation requirement, the government says that decision is dependent on hospitalizations continuing to trend downwards.