Kincardine councillor calls for beach-closure order to be rescinded

Kincardine councillor Laura Haight has put forward a motion to have the beach-closure order, by Grey Bruce medical officer of health Dr. Ian Arra, rescinded for the Municipality of Kincardine.

Issued Thursday, May 14, it ordered all municipalities to close their beaches and shores to the public until such time as the order is rescinded.

In committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (May 20), council danced around the issue during a lengthy and contentious debate, as members played the blame-game, arguing that council should have been allowed some input on the decision to close the beaches Friday, May 15, right before the Victoria Day long weekend.

In their first Zoom meeting, council members got off to a swashbuckling start, trying to figure out how to deal with an E-mail from the chief administrative officer, Sharon Chambers, which some members had not received or had not read yet.

Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie said if there was a legal opinion to be discussed, council would have to move into closed session.

“Are we required to go into closed to receive an opinion?” asked Haight.

Clerk Donna MacDougall said that a meeting could be closed to the public if receiving information under solicitor-client privilege.

“I'd like to deal with this matter in open session,” said Haight.

“I have not received either Sharon (Chambers)'s or Laura (Haight)'s E-mail,” said deputy mayor Marie Wilson. “So, I have not had a chance to read anything.”

Council agreed that the fairest thing to do was to defer this discussion until the next council meeting, after everyone had read the E-mail pertaining to a legal opinion with respect to the beach-closure issue.

Later in the meeting, during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) update, Arra made his presentation, noting that the Grey Bruce Health Unit is the only area in Ontario that has had no deaths due to COVID-19. However, he is still concerned that the public could become complacent and let its guard down with regard to health and safety.

“We have re-opening plans in Grey-Bruce, with a checklist for each sector,” he said. “These plans indicate which sectors will open first but there are no dates. It's based on indicators locally and provincially, as we mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”

He said the decision to close the beaches May 15 was based on input from political leaders, emergency services, and other stakeholders, along with public health's concerns about one-day visitors coming to the beaches on the holiday weekend.

“It was consistent with the provincial directive,” said Arra. “The province's beaches were closed except for walk-throughs. The order was a vehicle for the Municipality of Kincardine to interpret to suit its personal needs.”

The impact over the two days since the weekend have indicated that Grey-Bruce is not yet open for business,” said Arra. “It's an awareness campaign that we can open for tourism when it is appropriate for the area to do so. That's in line with re-opening plans – we open a sector, observe what happens for two weeks, and monitor the results.”

Haight argued that the order to close the beaches did not allow time for council discussion and input.

Arra replied that the political leaders knew well in advance and had plenty of time for discussion.

“One week before the order was issued, all the mayors and CAOs in Grey-Bruce had a meeting,” he said. “We received input from the municipal leaders and other officials, and the order was based on their input. If it came as a surprise to the municipality, perhaps we could have communicated better. However, this is an emergency and we were short of time.”

“We were not informed a week in advance by our mayor and CAO,” said councillor Bill Stewart. “The order needed to be better communicated. People were not happy and councillors were abused about the beach closure over the long weekend. I don't know why the mayor would not feel confident to tell us what decision was made.”

“Your council is well-served with a very strong leader in Anne Eadie,” said Arra. “The decision was made by the municipal leaders and officials, and it was made public in various media outlets the week before. It was a reasonable decision and was consistent with the provincial directive.”

Eadie told council that she and Chambers reported at the May 11 meeting that there was likely to be an order to close the beaches from the medical officer of health.

“There's no reason why you couldn't have told council about the decision before the announcement,” argued Stewart.

MOTION PUT FORWARD BY HAIGHT

Haight then introduced the following motion:

WHEREAS the COVID 19 Virus has created unprecedented threat to the health and safety of Canadians from coast to coast to coast;
AND WHEREAS Canadian public health professionals nationally, provincially and locally have all indicated the benefit of exercise;
AND WHEREAS Kincardinites, whether they be from North Bruce, Paisley, Inverhuron, Glammis, Tiverton, Bervie or Kincardine have, over the past eight weeks, taken to the streets, trails, concessions, boardwalks and sidewalks to walk, to both improve their fitness and mental health;
AND WHEREAS the Province of Ontario had provided clarity April 15, 2020, through correspondence from the Solicitor General that O. Reg 104/20 with respect to beaches that “individuals may continue to walk through or use areas of beaches” and that the public was encouraged to maintain a safe physical distance;
AND WHEREAS at the close of business Thursday, May 14, 2020, Dr. Ian Arra, the Medical Officer of Health for the Grey Bruce Health Unit, ordered municipalities to close all premises under their control that is or contains a beach or shore ordinarily accessible to the public and which includes any point of entry thereto;
AND WHEREAS such order was to come into force at 12 p.m. Friday, May 15 2020;
AND WHEREAS such order went beyond that required by the Province of Ontario with respect to public beach use;
AND WHEREAS no further direction or explanatory notes were provided to the Municipality of Kincardine;
AND WHEREAS the municipality would be liable to monetary fines of up to $25,000 for each day it was not in compliance with Dr. Arra’s order;
AND WHEREAS insufficient time was provided for clarification or consultation either prior to or after issuance of Dr. Arra’s order;
AND WHEREAS a plain reading of the order suggests all shoreline access points were to be closed;
AND WHEREAS staff, after obtaining a legal opinion, determined that real property, as described, includes the beaches, boardwalk and access points to the shore including the marina and necessarily closed same as required by the order;
AND WHEREAS at no time was the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Kincardine consulted, advised or given the opportunity to express its opinion on such closure;
AND WHEREAS such closure had been considered by Dr. Arra as early as May 7, 2020;
AND WHEREAS the Mayor of the Corporation of the Municipality of Kincardine was aware such order was forthcoming and had chosen to not advise council at the meeting May 11, 2020;
AND WHEREAS such lack of forethought to advise elected officials is both insulting to their position and constrains them from representing the public that elected them;

NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Kincardine respectfully requests that Dr. Arra rescind his order of May 15, 2020, as it pertains to the Municipality of Kincardine to allow Council to enact a Bylaw, should it wish to close the beaches under its control.

Arra clarified that this was not an order from Dr. Ian Arra, but was based on input from officials in Grey-Bruce. “It was not set out to penalize the Municipality of Kincardine, but a vehicle for the municipality until you could write a bylaw of your own.”

“As head of council, I have the authority to take action during an emergency,” said Eadie, “in order to protect the property, health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality. These are uncharted waters.”

“The intent of the motion,” said Haight, “is to send a message to the public, the health unit and the leadership in charge, that Kincardine wants control over its beaches. We want to see people allowed to walk on the beaches this weekend – give people options to exercise in the community.”

Chambers advised that a bylaw takes time to draft and implement, including short-form wording and set fines.

In a recorded vote, the motion was carried, 7-2. Those in favour were Haight, Stewart, Wilson and councillors Maureen Couture, Doug Kennedy, Gerry Glover and Randy Roppel. Voting against were Eadie and councillor Dave Cuyler.

“It takes time to put together a bylaw,” said Eadie, “which is why we went with the order for two weeks to accomplish what Dr. Arra recommended.”

“We did not decide that,” replied Haight. “You and the other mayors decided that.”

Council approved the motion, 8-1, in another recorded vote, with Eadie the only one against.