A new building for the Regina Humane Society and a mandatory bike helmet law were some of the items discussed during the first part of the Regina City Council’s monthly meeting Wednesday.

The meeting marked the first time council sat for a regular meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was held virtually.

On the agenda was the approval of a new facility for the Humane Society, a mandatory bike helmet bylaw, and the city’s plan to end homelessness in Regina.

The proposal for the Regina Humane Society’s new facility in Harbour Landing was unanimously approved.

Mayor Michael Fougere says it was a “wonderful” proposal, adding that the Humane Society’s current building is falling apart.

“This investment of a $30 million structure in Harbour Landing will be state of the art, it’ll be much bigger, it’ll be much more interactive, and it will be better for the animals and for those who want to adopt animals as well,” said Fougere. “Council unanimously supported that, it’s a wonderful proposal.”

After a lengthy debate on the topic, council decided to scrap a mandatory bike helmet bylaw, deciding rather to focus on education on cyclist safety for both cyclists and motorists.

Fougere says that education is important because, in the case of an accident, both sides are at fault.

“It isn’t necessarily one way that it’s always the vehicles are at fault and the bikes are not at fault, it is an inherent conflict when you share the road with a bike and a vehicle,” said Fougere. “It’s education for both sides to respect the road, respect the vehicle on the road, and the bike on the road. The education program will highlight that and the need for public safety.”

The latter half of the meeting saw another long debate over how to proceed with the city’s plan to end homelessness.

In the proposed plan, the city was set to put forward $2 million for the next five years to help fund anti-homelessness initiatives in the city, but due to the financial impact of COVID-19, the city doesn’t have the extra money.

As a result, Council decided to put aside $20,000 a year to keep the initiative running and then let the next council find a revenue stream for the plan in 2021.

Fougere says the decision to not commit a dollar value to the funding stream, does not hinder the End Homelessness Regina Plan.

“Council does strongly believe in its role in ending homelessness, but committing, by way of a vote, to a stream of money going forward commits the council to find a way to do that,” said Fougere. “ Some of the reasons why the dollar value was removed from the amendment was that we have a financial problem in our city that’s significant because of COVID-19, and the ability to commit $2 million is problematic.”

Council decided to adjourn and resume the meeting at 10:00 am Thursday.