A six-hour-long meeting at the Niagara Regional council was unable to conclude if the region should have mask bylaw after a tie-breaking vote by chair Jim Bradley.
Instead, council will revisit the issue at another meeting in two weeks, where an amended bylaw will be presented and debated.
The Wednesday night meeting was held days after St Catharines decided to move forward with developing a similar bylaw to the one passed in Toronto recently, requiring visitors at all indoor establishments like retail shops and grocery stores to wear a face covering in attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Regional staff laid out three options for the council to consider: a comprehensive information campaign, to officially support municipalities who have passed individual bylaws for mask-wearing, or to adopt a region-wide mask requirement that would encompass everyone going inside a store, with a few exceptions.
A draft of the bylaw said children under 5, or those with a medical condition, restaurant patrons, someone performing a sport or 'strenuous activity', persons assisting a person with a hearing disability or workers in a staff area or behind a physical barrier would not have to wear a mask.
No fines for those not complying with the mask requirement were laid out in the drafted bylaw, modeled after Waterloo Regions' face covering bylaw.
The meeting heard that education, as opposed to enforcement, would be the most likely path forward in the event of a bylaw is passed.
Opponents to the bylaw - among them Niagara Falls councilor Bob Gale, said that deciding to make the masks mandatory would create tension among those not complying, resulting in potential social media shaming, and instead opted for more education to increase compliance where social distancing can't be maintained.
"It is very polarizing. I talked to a bylaw officer in St Catharines who was out enforcing social distancing in the trails. He said some people were approving of what he was doing, but some wanted to tear his head off. It is very polarizing. I am in support of masks, but not a bylaw," said Gale.
During the debate, councilor Laura Ip acknowledged the potential of a bylaw creating adversity.
"I ask the public that they be thoughtful and considerate when they see people not wearing masks and engage in not shaming them on social media.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati questioned how a bylaw would hold up if challenged in court without the expressed endorsement of health officials, and said that the way forward must be to educate the public on how to protect themselves and others from the virus.
Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini, who was against the decision being deferred to another meeting, expressed concern over what would happen if the region would be forced to revert its reopening, in case the spread of the virus would pick up again.
Pelham councilor Diana Hudson agreed.
"We can't afford to relapse. To mandate masks with the potential to save one life is enough for me. I will support the mandated masks and education. We have to do both of them."
