Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini says he is confident that masks will become mandatory in every indoor space in Niagara after this Thursday's upcoming regional council meeting.
"I am confident that the support is there. I have always said that in order for it to be effective, it needs to pass on a regional level," said Ugulini to Thorold News on Monday morning.
He said he will take the issue to Thorold council if it wouldn't pass on a regional level.
It was after several hours of grinding in the virtual council chambers that regional chair Jim Bradley was forced to vote in a tie-breaker after an even split of councilors couldn't unite on whether to pass a bylaw at the meeting or hold off.
Bradley voted to defer it, leaving it to this upcoming meeting to decide on the issue.
While awaiting word from Queen's Park in Ottawa on Monday morning on whether Niagara will be let into Stage 3 of the provincial reopening of the economy or be held back for another week, Ugulini said he was worried to hear the reports of this weekend's 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Niagara.
"Yes, sure it made me nervous. I have been a proponent for mandatory masks, and this is one of the reasons. I truly believe that it will become even more important in Stage 3."
Doug Ford will make the announcement on Stage 3 at 1 p.m today from Ottawa.
UPDATE: Niagara has now been cleared to enter Stage 3 on Friday. Read more here.
The following health systems are still in Stage 2:
- Durham Region Health Department
- Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
- Halton Region Public Health
- Hamilton Public Health Services
- Lambton Public Health
- Niagara Region Public Health
- Peel Public Health
- Toronto Public Health
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
- York Region Public Health
