It appears that Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer was a bit ahead of the curve last week when he refused to follow Kamloops, Clearwater and several other municipalities across the province in declaring a local state of emergency.
On Thursday, March 26, the provincial government suspended all COVID-19 related local states of emergencies across B.C. in favor of a state of emergency for the whole province.
“I talked with Ken Christian (the mayor of Kamloops and a former public health official) and he didn’t think we needed to,” Stamer told the Star/Journal. “Ken thinks we’re doing all we can be doing.”
A local state of emergency wouldn’t have given District of Barriere staff any new powers that they could actually use, said the mayor.
“Maybe we could have requisitioned 100 masks but what use would that be if there weren’t 100 masks to be had?” he asked.
Barriere and area residents have been doing a good job of social distancing and following other instructions related to controlling the pandemic, he felt.
Other recent developments by District of Barriere include closing the playground and exercise area at Fadear Park. There is no practical way for staff to sanitize them properly, he said.
As of press-time, washrooms at Fadear Park remained open and staff were sanitizing them daily. Some of the walking trails in the park and around town are snow-free and open for public use. People should retain their social distance and watch for traffic if on the roads.
School District 73 (Kamloops-Thompson) recently announced that it is closing all play structures at school grounds until further notice (see story above).
The suspension of all COVID-19 related local states of emergency followed a declaration of a provincial state of emergency a few days earlier.
The provincial state of emergency gives the government a broad range of powers, including:
• the evacuation of persons and the removal of livestock, animals and personal property from any area of B.C.,
• the entry into any building or onto any land, without warrant, by any person in the course of implementing an emergency plan,
• control or prohibit travel to or from any area of B.C.,
• procure, fix prices for, or ration food, clothing, fuel, equipment, medical supplies or other essentials supplies, and
• use any property, services, resources or equipment within any part of B.C.
The provincial state of emergencies is initially in effect for 14 days and may be extended or rescinded as necessary.
During the 2017 wildfire season, B.C. was under a provincial state of emergency for 10 weeks. The last provincial state of emergency was in 2018, also to deal with wildfires.