University of Sask. law professor says City of Saskatoon has 'arguable case' for COVID-19 bylaw

An associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law says the City of Saskatoon is on stable legal ground in writing a bylaw designed to combat COVID-19.

On Monday, city council voted in favour of writing a bylaw that would limit gatherings in the city in attempt to shrink Saskatoon's COVID-19 caseload.

Prof. Felix Hoehn has written a book on municipal law in Canada and believes the proposed bylaw is within the city's powers.

"I think there is absolutely an arguable case to be made that the city has the power to act," Prof. Hoehn told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

"It presents an interesting legal question."

Saskatoon city council voted in favour of writing the bylaw after it asked the provincial government to bring in city-specific restrictions and was refused.

On Monday, Mayor Charlie Clark said the bylaw would limit social gatherings based on advice given by medical health officers.

He said the bylaw would have a limited 28-day timeframe and there would be penalties for people who broke it.

Throughout the process, the city solicitor has argued that powers surrounding public health orders fall to the provincial government.

While that's true, Hoehn said the issue is more nuanced. He said Saskatchewan's Cities Act gives cities the power to bring in general powers to pass bylaws around the safety, health and welfare of people.

"When you have, as Mayor Clark pointed out, a situation in the city that's affecting people's health, then that is a city purpose that affects the people in the municipality," he said. 

"And the city is taking some steps to address the public health and safety concerns."

Hoehn said the current situation is different than last year, when Regina and other municipalities tried to bring in their own restrictions under the province's Emergency Planning Act in the early days of the pandemic.

Eventually, the provincial government struck down those bylaws in favour of provincial measures, and amended the act to suspend any local emergency orders whenever there's a provincial order in place.