Today is the first full day of the Halton Region mandatory mask bylaw. This bylaw encompasses all of Halton Region including Milton, Oakville, Halton Hills and Burlington and takes precedent over any other local bylaws.
Please make sure you have your mask with you when heading out to public places where they would be required (subject to exemptions)
We ask that you please be kind to each other, be patient to everyone including staff at businesses as we are all getting used to the new bylaw.
Halton Region Public Health is reminding residents and businesses that other important public health measures and direction remain in place as the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency continues. We must protect the progress we have made together so we can continue to move forward, not backwards.
Please remember that wearing a mask does not replace other important public health measures:
On this weeks edition of Local Matters with Mike Cluett, Councillor Clark Somerville of Acton show you how to properly put on, wear and remove your masks. With the Halton wide bylaw coming into effect this week, this is good information.
Unanimous! Thank you to Halton Region councillors, staff, Halton’s Medical Officer of Health, legal team, everyone who submitted their presentations, to those who sent emails, made phone calls, commented on social media (even the ones who called me a loser 🙂 and other unmentionable names & reminded me they knew where I lived) …
THANK YOU for participating. I will have a link to the new bylaw up when its prepared and ready.
This afternoon after an over 6 hour debate at Halton Region Council, I along with all mayors, councillors and Regional Chair Gary Carr in voting unanimously for a region wide bylaw requiring the use of non-medical face masks in enclosed public spaces in Milton and across Halton Region.
The by-law comes into force on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 and will provide consistency across Halton and the GTA in order to minimize public confusion on non-medical masks and face coverings.
Earlier today Milton Town Council unanimously endorsed a recommendation brought forward by myself & Regional Councillor Zeeshan Hamid to have Halton Region discuss & vote on a region wide mandatory mask bylaw. The next meeting will be Wednesday July 15th.
Over the course of the last number of days, Halton Region municipalities have either passed their own local bylaw for mandatory masks or asked Halton Region to do the same. Milton Council decided bringing the debate and bylaw to the upper tier of local government to be a better choice, so that if a mandatory mask bylaw is passed, it covers all 4 local municipalities.
One of the consistent themes of the discussion by council was to in fact have this debate at the Region to ensure uniformity throughout Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills & Milton.
Local members of council took this opportunity of the special council meeting to outline a number of questions and concerns they have heard on behalf of their ward residents.
Councillor Sameera Ali brought up some very valid concerns regarding special needs residents, those who are hard of hearing & those who have medical conditions that might cause issues in wearing cloth/disposable masks.
All members of Regional Council noted these and other comments & will get those answers from Halton staff and our Medical Officer of Health.
The draft bylaw from Halton Region will be made available online for council and the public tomorrow and will be discussed and voted upon during the July 15th Halton Region Council meeting.
I’d like to thank my council colleagues for their support and comments made during the meeting. This is obviously a hot button issue with lots of viewpoints to take into consideration. As always I’m looking for your comments and you can email me mike.cluett@milton.ca
Halton Region is drafting a bylaw for discussion/approval on July 15th should regional council move in that direction. The draft bylaw will be made available for viewing this Friday and will be discussed on July 15th at Halton Regions next council meeting.
You can visit www.halton.ca for the details and how you can register to speak virtually as a delegate should you wish.
It’s best to have a region wide bylaw and not 4 different ones that will inevitably cause confusion with residents. This should be the direction of Milton council at our meeting later this week. The virtual meeting will be held this Thursday July 9th at 4:30pm. You can visit www.milton.ca and get more details on how you can watch and/or participate as a delegate.
Halton Region being the tier of government that is responsible for public health should be where this bylaw is passed. As the draft gets sent to regional council members later this week we can discuss then. Milton Town Council can and should have a public discussion on pros and cons of mandatory masks but the actual bylaw should have the input from our Public Health department and that can be done on the 15th.
In addition to all these measures we will be asking for considerations of those who have a medical reason why they can’t wear a mask to be exempt. One item I will be recommending is a comprehensive and detailed education component so that people are taught how to properly wear masks ie washing them daily, properly removing them, storage etc. They shouldn’t be hung on the visors of our cars, worn multiple days without washing with soap, etc. If we’re going to do this, let’s ensure its done correctly.
As we look back over the last few months we as Miltonians have a lot to be proud of. From the daily heroic actions of our front line workers, to the hundreds of businesses in town who despite immense challenges to keep their businesses afloat still kept focusing on giving to others, and the thousands of people who volunteered to help out, we should all be very proud.
I have never been more proud to be a Miltonian and a member of this community. We are at an incredibly important part in the history of this town – it is a period of time that we will be talking about for years and years from now. Canada Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary actions of our community members – Our neighbours, our friends and fellow Miltonians.
The challenges we have faced together over the last few months have only made this community stronger. We have been put to the test, and we have risen to the occasion.
Thanks to the collective efforts of the people of Milton and Halton Region we are beginning to reopen and people are getting back to work. Since this all began in March, The Town of Milton immediately worked towards assisting both businesses and residents with help by offering a deferral of property taxes for those who needed it most. Our senior management team produced a work plan that helped ensure business continuity at the Town. Permits continue to be processed, park and boulevards continue to be maintained albeit at a slower rate and essential services provided by our staff continue to be completed.
With the leadership of the Milton Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations and with the cooperation of both our MP and MPP, regular meetings and updates with residents and businesses were set in place to make sure Milton residents were kept up to date on the rapidly changing events during COVID19.
Milton continues to work with our business community as evidenced by the Patio 2020 program that helped cut red tape and streamline the process for our local restaurant owners and small businesses to move quickly to Stage 2 after we received approval from the province.
We’ve come a long way since the middle of March and there is still a long way to go. We are getting through this and while our summer time events have been cancelled physically, our celebrations will continue. The Town of Milton has a list of fun events that are being held throughout the day and you can find that schedule at www.milton.ca/canadaday
It is unfortunate that many of the events in Milton have been postponed or outright cancelled. The world renowned Downtown Street Festival, our Classic Car Show, the Strawberry Fair that supports the Milton Hospital Auxillary, our Milton Fall Fair and dozens of fundraising events have not been allowed to happen. All of these and more make Milton the great community it is.
Normally on Canada Day my daily routine would be to head to Victoria Park at Town Hall and enjoy our Veterans Breakfast. Thanks to our friends at the Knights of Columbus, this annual event has been held in support of our local veterans. Branch 136 of our local Royal Canadian Legion helps prepare a celebration at the cenotaph and then we march with our veterans to the Milton Fairgrounds to kick off the Canada Day celebrations.
It is unfortunate that we cant do this in 2020 but it is for the best. We have and continue to persevere through this COVID19 situation and we’ll do whatever it takes to get back to normal, whatever that new normal will look like.
So today at some point, take a moment and thank our veterans, the ones who fought and died to make Canada free and the best country in the world.
I ask you to enjoy your celebrations for Canada Day this year as safely as possible. Lets keep doing what we have been doing so well over the last few months….
Washing hands
Maintaining physical distancing
Limiting unnecessary travel
Wear a mask when in public spaces especially when physical distancing cant be maintained.
And if you don’t feel well, please stay at home.
So, on behalf of my family, I’d like to wish you and yours a very Happy and Safe Canada Day. Lets celebrate what makes us the best town of the best province of the best country in the world to live in. Although we wont be face to face, I’ll hopefully “see” you at many of the virtual events that will be held across Milton today.
All the best … take care … and we’ll see you soon.
