With the Omicron COVID-19 variant showing early indications of slowing down, the City of Greater Sudbury is eyeballing a return to the office and council chambers.
“The plan for returning to office work anticipates some phased approach,” city CAO Ed Archer said last week, adding that the effort’s nuances will be communicated with city staff in the coming weeks.
It’s anticipated that the return to work will coincide with the province’s reopening plans, beginning in mid-March and continuing in two additional phases a month apart.
For several hundred employees, remote work arrangements will continue to be made on a sustained basis.
Despite the city making these considerations, Archer clarified that it will depend on how well key indicators perform and the advice that comes out of the city’s Community Control Group, which includes the city’s executive team, Sudbury Health Unit’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Health Sciences North president and CEO Dominic Giroux and Greater Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen.
“It’s not that we are seeing ourselves as out of the woods by any extent,” Archer said, adding that whatever transition plan they employ will take months to conclude.
Late last month, Sutcliffe offered a similar cautious optimism when looking at key indicators, which are subject to ongoing assessment and key measures such as people staying home when they are sick, wearing masks and that proof of vaccination requirements stay in place.
The province, meanwhile, has initiated a gradual reopening plan that has resulted in the relaxing of restrictions throughout municipal operations in recent weeks.
The potential return to city council chambers follows last October’s invitation by Mayor Brian Bigger for his colleagues to come back for in-person meetings if they felt comfortable doing so.
This invitation was never followed up on due to the Omicron variant following shortly thereafter, bringing with it a path of destruction that has resulted in more local deaths so far this year than in all of 2021 and 2020.
Whether city council members and the public at large should be invited to return for in-person council and committee meetings is one that warrants consideration, Archer said, adding that it will depend on whether the Omicron variant calms down as anticipated.
“We should be collectively aware that we are responding appropriately on behalf of the community,” he said, adding that there will also be conversations with city council members about allowing a limited number of community members into the public gallery.
In September, Sudbury.com polled city council and saw there was an appetite for a return to council chambers at that time and for blended virtual and in-person meetings to continue even into a post-pandemic world.
“The potential for councillors to continue participating remotely, even if the building is fully open for example, like what we’re used to in the past, still remains,” Archer said, clarifying that city council’s procedural bylaw allows for remote participation.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
