The City Solicitor has been directed to draft a bylaw for the City of Saskatoon regarding gathering restrictions.

On Monday, Saskatoon City Council voted in favour of having a bylaw drafted after the province rejected the City’s written proposal earlier this month to implement gathering restrictions in Saskatoon.

Last week, the governance and priorities committee voted 7-4 in favour of seeing if a bylaw surrounding gathering restrictions would be feasible.

Mayor Charlie Clark was among one of those who voted in favour of the idea. He says he wants to try and see if something can be done to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Saskatoon.

“It’s my view that if we can do something given the circumstances, given that healthcare right now is at risk for anybody needing healthcare, not just COVID but anybody who has a car accident and a heart attack, a stroke, under any circumstances, the entire community is at risk right now.”

City staff say they will be able to have a bylaw drafted by the end of the week.

The bylaw would apply to mostly private gatherings but there are instances of some public gatherings too including places of worship which currently don’t require proof of vaccination.

Councillors Donauer, Hill and Davies all voted against drafting such a bylaw.