The City of Moose Jaw has not held its weekly pandemic news conferences in weeks, which has prevented the media from asking questions, so the Moose Jaw Express went directly to the mayor for answers.

The Express emailed Mayor Fraser Tolmie several coronavirus-related questions at 12:53 p.m. on April 24, seeking more information about the cancellation of the news conferences and clarity on other issues such as when the media can attend city council meetings in person.

At 4:45 p.m. on Friday, Tolmie emailed back his responses. He did not answer all of the questions.

The first set of questions asked about the cancellation of the news conferences, what prompted this decision, how city hall planned to communicate with residents, and why Tolmie was showing preference to one Moose Jaw news outlet despite saying in a previous email that all media should be treated with “fairness.”

“The premier rolled out the ‘Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan’ yesterday (April 23). Council and administration will be closely reviewing this document and the potential impacts it will have in the future concerning Moose Jaw,” Tolmie wrote.

“News conferences these past two weeks have not been necessary because there have been no significant operational changes. This has not stopped us from issuing media updates, which all media are entitled to. Typically, when media receive those releases, they are free to contact us just like you have done through this email.”

In the second set of questions, the Express asked when city hall would allow the media to attend meetings in person and who made the original decision to lock out media.

“According to the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan, we will be looking at restrictions being lifted for media in Phase 3 when public gatherings are being increased to 15 persons,” wrote Tolmie, “but no date has been decided by the province on when Phase 3 will be implemented.”

Another question asked how many people attended the April 13 council meeting. The Express heard from sources at city hall that more than 10 people attended the meeting at one point.

“Our last council meeting had a limit of 10. However, one person from administration did show up unexpectedly during the middle of the meeting and he was asked to leave once it was recognized that we were over the limit,” Tolmie said.

City manager Jim Puffalt said on April 9 that Moose Jaw is an “independent organization,” makes its own decisions and doesn’t need to follow the example of other cities, the Express pointed out. However, Puffalt’s April 13 council report indicated city administration followed Regina and Saskatoon as examples to implement financial measures to help residents during the pandemic. The Express wondered if Tolmie approved of the city manager misleading the media and giving contradictory answers.

“Concerning the financial measures that Moose Jaw City Council has taken, we decided to work from what we felt we could make cuts to. In discussions with mayor of other communities such as Regina and Saskatoon, they implemented measures and then had to find ways to cut costs,” Tolmie wrote. “We looked at ways that we could save and deliver internally before making any decisions.

“The end result may have been the same outcome, but our process was different from other communities. It would be irresponsible for council and administration not to look at other communities and see what measures they are taking at this time. It must be stated the decisions are with council and we are looking out for the best interests of the residents of Moose Jaw.”

The city manager also said on April 9 that city hall had locked out the media to keep council chambers safe for the emergency measures organization (EMO) team, the Express said. The newspaper asked the mayor how city administration determined whether EMO members were healthy and whether the members were tested beforehand.

“It is essential that the EMO team are protected from any unnecessary exposure,” Tolmie said, “and we have made every effort to provide multiple viewing options so that media and the public have unfiltered access including recorded votes.”

The next regular council meeting is Monday, May 11.

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