Confusion at City Hall over vaccinations and testing
Wednesday was supposed to be the deadline for all city employees including police to be fully-vaccinated, or start paying for their own rapid tests.
Calgary police service says about 93 per cent of its employees are vaccinated another seven per cent are using rapid test kits multiple times a week.
“So far, we've had one employee who has chose to resign from the Calgary police service because of the vaccination policy. And we have two employees now who have taken a form of leave as so they don't have to comply with the rapid testing nor the vaccination policy, “said Deputy Chief Raj Gill.
"We roughly have about 11 or 12 employees who have put in for medical exemptions from the vaccination policy, and those are being analysed and assessed by our health services folks, and verified by the medical information."
Raj Gill of the Calgary Police
Gill said as of Wednesday unvaccinated employees without an exemption will be paying for their own tests.
Those tests cost approximately $40 every time and must be taken at least twice a week.
The police service has applied for a provincial program which will supply rapid test kits to essential services workers until the end of March 2022, but it has not received any of those kits and does not expect to receive them for several weeks.
Once it does receive those, unvaccinated police officers will be able to get tested for free.
UNDER THE BUS
According to the mayor that throws the city's entire vaccination plan under the bus.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon Gondek said the police department’s request for free kits from the province will force the city to supply the rest of its employees with free tests as well.
“Thanks to the Calgary Police Service making a decision that they will pay for testing, we have been forced to do the same at the City of Calgary, because other unions have said, it's not fair. (saying)” If the Calgary police are paying for testing why are you the City of Calgary?” said Gondek who accused the police of undermining the city manger. “I know that he was as surprised as I am that the police service put him in a compromising position with other unions. And that's simply not acceptable. “
Calgary councillor Jyoti Gondek announced she's running for mayor Wednesday
MISTAKEN
Almost immediately police countered saying unequivocally that Gondek is mistaken.
In an email a police spokesperson wrote to CTV:
“Under the service’s policy, starting today our employees must pay for their own rapid testing kits. As part the government’s Rapid Testing Program, essential services were given the opportunity to apply for free kits until March 2022.”
The email went on to say:
“We are still waiting for these kits and until they arrive, members who are not vaccinated will continue to pay for rapid testing kits out of their own pocket. All essential services in Alberta can apply for free kits under this limited program.”
QUESTIONING POLICE POSITION
Late Wednesday afternoon the mayor’s Chief of Staff Stephen Carter called CTV to say he still questions the police position and contends no police officer or staff member of the service will likely pay for a rapid test under the police service plan.
Carter said both he and the mayor are upset that the police chief has accessed the provincial program to cover the costs of tests.
Carter said it was the mayor's position that employees should feel the pinch in their pocketbook to understand that their actions have consequences.
He said the city has about 94,000 rapid test kits in its supply. Those are left over over from a shipment in early October when the city was supplying test kits to employees who required them.
According to Carter the original plan was to begin charging employees who accessed those kits after December 1. He says the police, by applying for the provincially-offered free kits for their unvaccinated employees, have undermined the city’s efforts to convince more employees to vaccinate.
He said it would be unfair to the rest of city staff to charge them for testing it police do not have to pay.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.