City of Regina to enforce mandatory mask use on Regina Transit

The City of Regina is set to begin enforcing its mandatory mask policy for transit services.

It announced that, beginning Wednesday, if a person refuses to wear a mask on a bus and there aren’t any medical conditions involved, the individual will be asked to get off the bus.

Transit supervisors will be doing random checks on buses to ensure compliance with the policy is occurring.

Regina Transit introduced a mandatory mask policy in August, but didn’t enforce the requirement. Still, it distributed masks at key locations around the city.

Last week, Regina Transit increased mask distribution to 10 locations during peak times.

The city said the enforcement measure is being put in place instead of passing a formal bylaw because it “would take time to create, pass, and establish enforcement protocols.”

Earlier Tuesday, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 588 — the union representing transit drivers in Regina — issued a media release saying it was concerned for driver safety.

In the release, Local 588 president Kevin Lucier said the union supports the mask mandate but doesn’t want the drivers to be the ones who have to enforce it.

He called for the installation of shields for drivers, alleging there have been two incidents over the past few months where a driver was assaulted, including one instance of sexual assault.

“We’re looking for the city’s support to have the safety of our operators in mind when developing the policy,” Lucier said in the release. “If they want us to interact with the public to start the enforcement of the mask policy, then we’ll need hard shields in place to ensure operator safety.”