What happened to renewed calls for mask mandates in Canada?

Back in early November of 2022 Canadians worried that mask mandates were going to make a comeback. But as one of the roughest flu and Covid seasons rages, health officials haven't moved to reimpose masks on the populace.

"Barriers to travel are gone. Workers are back in offices," wrote CBC journalist Bartley Kives, "mask-wearing is optional in most public places." But what caused the public to fear a return to masks and how bad is the situation now?

The CEO of Canada’s largest children's hospital sparked a new controversy over mask mandates in the country on November 11th when he made an emotional appeal to Ontarians to reconsider wearing masks in indoor spaces.  

“Do the right thing,” Dr. Ronald Cohn said in an emotional plea to the citizens of Canada’s largest province. 

Cohn made his statement just days after Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children announced that it planned to cancel all surgeries so that hospital staff could better respond to the exploding number of children being admitted with respiratory infections. 

“I would support a universal mask mandate,” Dr. Cohn said, “but I’m appealing for people to wear a mask no matter what.”

“My main message to people is: if you read what is happening and if you hear what is happening, do the right thing… you don’t need a mandate to wear a mask. That is what I’m urging people to do.”

Dr. Cohn isn’t alone in calling for renewed mask mandates in Canada. 

A growing number of public health officials in several Canadian provinces called for a new mask mandate that could help the country battle a difficult viral season that had seen Covid-19, Influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus infecting the population. 

A poll from Nanos Research at the time found that seven out of ten Canadians actually supported a return to indoor masking requirements this fall if it was deemed necessary by provincial health officals. But some organizations were already taking matters into their own hands. 

Officials at southern Ontario’s University of Waterloo reinstated a mask mandate for all students attending any indoor functions, including going to lectures and exams.

“Recently, we have seen increases in local Covid-19 hospitalizations,” university leaders wrote in a message to students, “and there are emerging trends from test positivity and wastewater that suggest increasing levels of Covid in the community now and in the near future.” 

But not all Canadians were convinced that mask mandates are the answer. 

Albert’s new Premier, Danielle Smith, has ruled out any mask mandate in her province, even as roughly ten percent of Alberta’s school population is absent due to illness. 

Photo by: Facebook @DanielleSmithAB

'I think it's important that we not cause an overreaction or a state of panic,' Smith said during a news conference on November 14th, "We want people to know that we take this seriously, but we also want to do the things that we know are going to help."

Photo by: Facebook @DanielleSmithAB

But Smith had no plans to help if the situation worsens, and she’s even stated that her office will prevent Alberta’s school boards from making the decision about a mandatory mask for themselves. 

Photo by: Facebook @DanielleSmithAB

"Health decisions are the purview of the health minister with advice from who he needs to seek advice from." 

Photo by: Facebook @DanielleSmithAB

"I've been talking with the justice minister about that, [and] we retain the full authority to be offering that advice at the provincial level."

Photo by: Facebook @DanielleSmithAB

Officials estimated that more than 20,000 Edmonton area public school students are currently sick with some form of respiratory illness. 

As for Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has said that he welcomed citizens to wear masks, but there was no recommendation for widespread mandatory masking yet. 

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health stated that he strongly recommended people wear masks to reduce their risk and the risk to others.

“I’m very loath, after 1,000 days of a pandemic, to put in a mandate,” Dr. Moore said in an interview. 

“We know what works, and we can trust Ontarians to do the right things in terms of vaccination, treatment, and all these basic layers of protection that we’ve adhered to so well in the last three years."

Unfortunately, the mask issue went away but the underlying illnesses stayed and spiraled out of control. Thousands of children fell ill in December according to Nicole Ireland of The Canadian Press. 

The flu has returned with a vengeance after being absent for a couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's hitting children especially hard.

Covid-19 is also proving to be more deadly for some according to Bartly Kives, noting that more "people died in 2022 either from COVID-19 or in association with the disease in this province than during each of the first two years of the pandemic." This a worrying statistic that might persuade some into adopting masks again.