Regina city council not considering fines, discussing stay-at-home order

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere is urging citizens to stay home and avoid leaving their home unless they need essential supplies or they are an essential worker.

On Monday, Fougere started his daily city update by offering his condolences on behalf of the city after learning of Saskatchewan’s first deaths due to COVID-19.

He suggested to citizens that this is a stark reminder of the seriousness of the virus, and asked residents to work together in order to get through the pandemic.

“If you show symptoms at all, please stay home. This is not new news but it needs to be repeated,” said Fougere.

“You must stay home if you’re self-isolating. It’s important for you to recognized that the choices you make today, if they are the wrong choices, will affect you, your family and others in our community.”

Fougere mentioned that city council has discussed the possibility of a stay-at-home order. They plan to have more talks around that possibility if COVID-19 cases continue to increase.

“We’ll take such steps in the future if we see that people are not following those rules and guidelines,” he admitted. “Separation is so critically important to stop the spread of the virus.”

During his Monday availability, the mayor shared that they received a number of calls over the weekend regarding people gathering in clusters outdoors while taking in the milder weather.

He said while some people are respecting the emergency order by keeping their distance from each other, there are others not taking it seriously enough.

Some cities are actively or are looking into ticketing people who are not following municipal rules by using spaces prohibited by emergency or provincial orders during the outbreak.

When asked if Regina city council is considering a similar approach, Fougere said there’s no talk of the city fining residents to discourage disobedience of public orders at this point.

More from 620 CKRM