Okotoks is putting its support behind moving from a provincial to a federal contact tracing application.
Council considered a request from Karen Sorenson, mayor of Banff, to submit a letter to Health Minister Tyler Shandro for the transition from an Alberta-only tracing app to a national version that could provide tracing information for people travelling across provincial borders.
“With the upward trending of new COVID-19 cases, some municipalities are feeling more tools are needed to prevent or stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Cathy Duplessis, legislative services manager for Okotoks.
Mayor Bill Robertson said after hearing Premier Jason Kenney speak against instituting the federal app, he felt the Town was between a rock and a hard place in making a decision.
“We certainly need contact tracing,” said Robertson.
CAO Elaine Vincent said the hesitation on behalf of the Province is largely due to the data and points of integrity currently contained within the Alberta app, and the fear that walking away from the original application would force the Province to start from scratch.
“That’s the challenge, is at some point we’re either going to have to get into the Canadian system or keep our eggs in the basket with the Alberta system,” said Vincent. “The mobility that’s occurring still between provinces, I think that’s the tough point that needs to be weighed, is when do we make the move potentially to the national system rather than sticking with our provincial system?”
She said part of the equation is timing, and whether it makes sense to switch to a new tracing app with the number of cases at record highs.
Coun. Ed Sands said he believed if the change was made, a transition period would be established to phase out the provincial app, and by the time contract tracing was one solely on the federal application the current cases in the Alberta system would have been resolved.
“If transitioning to the federal one over a month, and certainly we’re going to have COVID with us over a month…if we can encourage the federal one and phase the Alberta one out – but that’s up to guys way above my pay grid,” said Sands.
Council decided to submit a letter indicating its support of the national application, largely to account for people travelling between provinces, indicating the move should be made as soon as possible and a media campaign should be implemented to encourage citizens to subscribe to the app.
Coun. Matt Rockley said he believes the government will handle the changeover with a suitable transition period, and that it’s the right thing to do.
“I think it’s a good move to ensure that we’re using national information, especially considering the movement of people across provincial boundaries,” said Rockley.
