If you want to sit on a community board in Wheatland County, you might need to get ready to roll up your sleeves and get a jab.

There was a discussion at the last meeting of the county council about the possible requirements of having the COVID-19 vaccine for members of community boards. There was an illusion to pre-war German practices of discrimination against Jewish minorities brought up regarding the practice of forcing people to show their identification.

Councillor Scott Klassen noted that the practice could be seen as a form of discrimination or segregation.

It was brought up that it is becoming commonplace on some boards to require community board members to be vaccinated.

Councillor Rick Laursen explained, “I don't know if they're allowed to or not either, but certainly at the RMA Convention we had to show proof, and then we were given a band at every function that we went to.” He said, “We had to do the same thing when I was at Drumheller and District Waste yesterday I had to show it there again, so whether they're allowed to or not, I'm not sure, but it's certainly becoming common practice.”

It was explained that a local community board has mandated that board members be vaccinated, in order to protect vulnerable populations and medical staff.

A portion of the county council meeting was then held in-camera.

The County council later voted to direct administration to make inquiries about the legalities of boards requiring mandatory vaccination status verification, or onsite testing as a condition of board membership.