After a long debate, hours of work and revision, the Town of Strathmore Town Council has passed a mandatory Face Covering Bylaw.

A bylaw was first brought before the council two weeks ago on November 18. At that point, the bylaw was defeated 4-3.

READ MORE: Council Axes Face Covering Bylaw

The Town of Strathmore administration added the controversial Face Covering Bylaw back into the agenda for yesterday's meeting. In that meeting, Council went through the new bylaw point-by-point making additional amendments and eventually, it passed second reading 6 to 1. The council then voted to see if the bylaw could go to the third reading through a unanimous vote but it was defeated 6 to 1.

READ MORE: Special Council Meeting Called To Decide Fate Of Face Covering Bylaw

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Pat Fule called a special council meeting for today at 12:30 p.m. In that meeting, the bylaw was passed 5-2 allowing face coverings to be mandatory inside all public buildings and vehicles.

Now that Strathmore has an official decision, Mayor Fule hopes residents will be happy with it. "I'm more confident that the Town of Strathmore governance can have a bylaw that we think is fair and equitable. It is all being done to try and protect people and be one more tool to keep people healthy and safe from the COVID-19 virus."

He mentioned that he was impressed with how councillors with different views came together to approve this bylaw.

"I was really happy with the way that our councillors worked together. I know people have some concerns, and there have been some really strong comments. But I was really proud of all the councillors who worked so hard together to bring forward amendments to make the bylaw more acceptable and fair for Strathmore residents."

The amendments made by councillors took up a majority of last night's meeting, which ran until approx 11:30 p.m. Some changes made focused on adding 'education' to the purpose of the bylaw, changing the trigger point from enhanced to 20 active cases, changing the minimum age for compliance from 2-years-old to 5-years-old and a reduction of the fine for not wearing a face-covering in indoor public places to $50.

Residents who are against the Face Covering Bylaw have been vocal to the mayor and councillors through social media about why they did not want the bylaw passed. The mayor said he hears them but asks for understanding.

"I would want the people who are really against the mask bylaw to understand that we haven't done this to take away your rights, or to get you fined. We are just trying to find a way to add another tool in the toolbox to fix this COVID-19 situation."

The mayor encouraged people to use compassion when discussing this event further. He noted that he has seen many comments made on social media and knows people are frustrated with COVID-19 interrupting their lives.

"I know this has been a terrible time, and people are fed up and tired of hearing the messaging, and sick of the virus situation. Some may even believe that it isn't very serious, but the numbers are really taking off in Alberta. Our hospitalizations are going up, and we have to try and keep our numbers down."

Strathmore Town Council's next meeting will be in the new year.