State of Local Emergency lifted in Calgary as of Monday
![Naheed Nenshi Calgary council passed a new bylaw requiring people to wear masks in all public buildings and vehicles in the city late Tuesday afternoon](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2020/7/21/naheed-nenshi-1-5033750-1627390761947.jpg)
The State of Local Emergency (SOLE) is being lifted in Calgary effective Monday, Mayor Naheed Nenshi announced.
The city has been under a State of Local Emergency since November 2020, which was renewed most recently on May 21 for 90 days. With it now lifted, Nenshi said most people won't notice much of a difference. The city's emergency management plan will remain in place, said Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Chief Sue Henry, to ensure various departments are able to communicate and coordinate effectively.
The use of adaptive roadways (closing down lanes to allow pedestrians and cyclists more room) will remain in place through the summer, and masks will still be mandatory at indoor public places and on transit.
"For citizens, I will encourage you to keep doing what you're doing, wash your hands, wear your mask and get your shot," said Nenshi.
"This is another step in our movement toward a brighter future."
City council is set to debate the city's mask bylaw on Monday and Nenshi said he would like to see the benchmark for removal tied to second doses.
The province has said 68.5 per cent of Albertans age 12 and up have now received a first dose. The province will move to Stage 3 of its reopening plan when it reaches 70 per cent, which will see all provincial health measures removed.
Nenshi said he is also concerned by the outbreak of Delta variant at Foothills hospital, but noted the city will likely remove the mask mandate within weeks of when the province does.
"Ultimately, we're probably talking about a difference of a few weeks at most," he said. "If the province chooses to lift their mask mandate by July 1, let's say, and we choose to keep it in place until we have a higher second dose percentage, if people continue to get their second dose at the rate they're getting them, the difference would probably be a couple weeks."
Nenshi said he would be surprised if the city hasn't lifted the mask mandate "by the end of July."
As the city begins moving back toward a sense of normalcy following the pandemic, Nenshi asked Calgarans to treat each other with kindness.
"People will have different comfort levels on how to move forward," he said.
"Some people are excited about going to the Stampede. Some people will not go to the Stampede this year. Some people cannot wait to rip their mask off, some people are saying, 'I'm going to keep my masks on when I'm in crowded places for the near future,' and it's all OK ... I just want to remind everyone to be kind."
The reason for the lifting of the SOLE, said Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry, is because vaccination availability is increasing and hospital rates continue to decline.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6960133.1720721138!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'A terrible tragedy': 4 dead in another multiple-fatality B.C. crash
A crash in Keremeos, B.C., Wednesday morning is the latest in a string of fatal collisions, this time claiming the lives of four people, Mounties say.
Biden forcefully declares he's staying in re-election race in major news conference
U.S. President Joe Biden used his highly anticipated news conference Thursday to deliver a forceful defence of his foreign and domestic policies, and batted away questions about his ability to serve another four years even as he flubbed a reference to Donald Trump in one of his first answers.
Trudeau says he still has 'full confidence' in Freeland, but has been talking to Carney
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he continues to have 'full confidence' in Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, but he's also been talking to Mark Carney about entering federal politics.
'An avoidable tragedy': Calgary woman charged after dog dies in hot car
A Calgary woman is facing charges for the death of her dog, which died after being left in a hot car on Canada Day.
Oilers star engaged to marry girlfriend after proposal in Spain
Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl is engaged to be married. The 28-year-old centre proposed to his girlfriend, actor Celeste Desjardins, who said yes. Both posted about the engagement Thursday to their Instagram accounts.
Benji Gregory, former child star on the '80s sitcom 'ALF,' dies at 46
Former child actor Benji Gregory, who played the young boy on the 1980s television sitcom 'ALF,' has died in suburban Phoenix. He was 46.
Mother of the 'miracle baby' found crawling by a highway faces a murder charge in older son's death
Three days after a 4-year-old boy's body was pulled from a southwest Louisiana lake, and two days after the child's 1-year-old brother was rescued while crawling beside an interstate highway, Louisiana authorities announced a murder charge against the children's mother.
Shelley Duvall, actress and iconic 'The Shining' heroine, has died
Shelley Duvall, the intrepid, Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining,' has died. She was 75.
Defence calls Coutts murder-conspiracy trial 'un-Canadian,' accuses RCMP of lying
A lawyer for one of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., says the trial is "un-Canadian" and alleges RCMP officers lied under oath.