Confusing rules, mixed messaging create enforcement challenges for Alberta's new COVID-19 rules

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Confusion, distrust, mixed messaging and a subculture resistant to following health rules could present challenges for enforcing Alberta’s new suite of COVID-19 restrictions.

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University of Calgary law professor Lorian Hardcastle says the new rules around restrictions and the vaccine passport plan are complicated, which could make it difficult for people to follow them and for agencies to enforce them.

Bylaw officers and peace officers currently do not have the authority to enforce the rules set out in the newest health order, which was published online Friday. That power expired on July 2 and it was not renewed. Police and Alberta Health Services can take enforcement action under the Public Health Act.

And while the government and AHS say their focus is on education, the current pressure on our hospital systems means they can’t hold back this time.

“I think that the government’s system of rules with exceptions, with opt-ins, with opt-outs, is just far too complex to achieve the kind of compliance and enforcement that I think we need,” Hardcastle said, adding that a single set of rules would be easier for people to follow.

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“We’ve often heard the government talk about how it wants to educate people … (and) personal responsibility. All of that is fine if you implement restrictions in a very proactive manner … but I think in this case, there’s little choice but to not only implement these measures but then to really crack down on them immediately.”

When Premier Jason Kenney lifted nearly all COVID-19 rules July 1 he said the province would be “open for good.” Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw also told Albertans it was safe to treat the disease as an endemic and the worst was over.

Hardcastle says this messaging, along with the government and Hinshaw’s absence in August despite rising cases and hospitalizations, have eroded Albertan’s trust, which is needed to effectively get people to buy in.

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“I think the public trust has been shaken, not just in Dr. Hishaw, but in the government as a whole,” she said. “If you don’t trust the government, and you don’t think that what the government is doing is evidence-based, that, I think, that has to harm compliance.”

Unlike during previous lockdowns, this time it will also be harder to identify rogue establishments, she says, because breaking the rules won’t be as obvious with the opt-in program for businesses.

Other snags in the process are already emerging.

Asked about enforcement on Thursday, Mayor Don Iveson said the city was still waiting for clarification.

“We have always offered to assist with our enforcement resources and public communications and we’ll continue to make that offer to the Government of Alberta,” he said.

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“We’ll look to those orders and then try to assist with education and enforcement, if we’re delegated the authority.”

Breaking public health orders can land Albertans with a $1,000 fine, or prosecution for up to $100,000 for a first offence.

Defiant few

Another problem is a culture of “open defiance” that seems to be more prominent in Alberta than other places, though this proportion is still small, Hardcastle says.

Premier Jason Kenney also acknowledged issues with this group in a Facebook live video Thursday evening.

“We’re dealing really with a slice of about 20 per cent of the adult population, the unvaccinated, who are the least likely to take COVID seriously, who are also the least likely to follow public health restrictions,” he said. “There simply isn’t an answer to that.”

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AHS CEO and president Dr. Verna Yiu said at a COVID-19 update on Thursday the goal is always to educate people first, and most people they work with want to comply.

“It’s about helping provide them with support … and so, we’re confident that we are going to be able to continue to work with the majority of communities and businesses that they will choose to,” she said.

The Alberta NDP on Friday also called on the province to pass a ministerial order giving peace and bylaw officers the ability to enforce the health orders, and to create a new fine up to $3,600 for anyone who obstructs public health officers or verbally abuses workers trying to enforce restrictions.

lboothby@postmedia.com

@laurby