Politicization of Masks

If political leaders on the left feel like they can't talk about the importance of N95s to prevent viruses, then points go to the far right, who started this anti-mask rhetoric.

I asked, "What's the NDP's position on bringing back masks in schools, healthcare facilities, and public transportation during this surge?? Save some kids, keep the economy running, win/win!!"

I included a link to numbers from Canadian Covid-19 Hazard Index that show, based on wastewater, hospitalization, and excess deaths, that we're in a worse place now than at any time with the exception of the December 2021 wave. I was hoping the stats would light a fire under them. It's the third leading cause of death, almost completely preventable, but we're just going to let it circulate widely.

It's a reasonable question, and it wasn't asked in anger or in an accusatory manner. I have no idea their stance on masks. The only response I got was that I should be going after the Cons instead. (Can't it be both?) And I understand why they're silent about it. 

Masks save lives but kill political careers.

Conservatives won't bring them back without pressure. Lots of us are phoning their offices directly along with social media tagging. They're going to do squat. The opposition is our only hope for movement on this, and they understandably don't want to touch it with a ten foot pole.

It's great that the NDP are calling for cleaner air in schools. But, like the CO2 monitoring pilot being run by the WRDSB, these initiatives both needed to include a qualifier that we need masks until we can demonstrate that the rooms have clean air, at least when numbers are high, like they are right now - better if we implement when numbers are rising, well before they get this high. By the time we get air quality actually up and running, how many more will have become disabled or died preventable deaths? The air quality proposals that don't mention "and masks until we get this going" allow the board and the government to sit back and say "we're working on it" for years without any mitigations in the meantime. The WRDSB CO2 trial took over a year to get going after it was approved, will take up more time to test three buildings, and then we'll wait for results to be put into pretty graphs and then eventually talk about doing something in the future despite the fact that Québec already has CO2 monitors in every classroom and immediately fixes any issues with high numbers. 

But, here's the big Catch-22, if the WRDSB motion had added in anything about masks, any mention of masks, it wouldn't have gone through. For sure. And I imagine the same is true for the NDP bill, although it's a private member's bill and is unlikely to go through anyway. But it might. And it definitely won't with the word "mask" in there anywhere. Masking is such a loaded concept right now - maybe forever more - so I get what a barrier it erects when discussed, and how it can undermine trying to craft policy. So if the NDP starts courageously discussing masks, they'll never win an election. 

But they might not now anyway. I really thought Marit Stiles would be the game changer needed to put them out front of the pack in 2026, and it's still early in the election cycle, and absolutely anything could happen, but ousting Jama definitely cost them some votes. I'm not sure who people will vote for instead; nobody else is any better on either issue, but the disappointment in the decision is palpable in my very lefty circles. 

So if they're going down anyway, why not try to do some good on the way by calling for masks just in healthcare, schools, and public transportation!! While they're at it, they could call for an inquiry that thoroughly investigates the handling of the pandemic by the Conservatives the way the UK is doing. The Greenbelt started the hole they're in, and a pandemic inquiry could completely bury them! 

What really worries me, though, is that the anti-mask mantras came from the far right. WRDSB originally was one of few boards that had an unanimous vote in favour of masks earlier than mandated by the province. But then something shifted and the group split, and some became strongly anti-mask, strong enough that it was hard to just talk about encouraging masking, and now that's all over. The far right won this one! Their talking points about choice and freedom were repeated over and over until enough people started believing them. I had a student in class who was adamant that rules about masks are against freedom because we shouldn't have any rules about what we're allowed to do and not do (!!), and no amount of discussion could sway them to recognize that rules and laws are all about what we're allowed to do and are necessary for a functioning society. 

This rhetoric is incredibly dangerous. They've beaten one path through to the masses with an anti-mask stance. We have to push back on this to save lives and - wait for it - to save democracy.   

ETA: Remember when hospital personnel used to wear masks all the time? This is from St. Mary's Hospital in Toronto, 1954. What the hell happened to us??

ETA: VoicED Radio wrote about this post as one of the only ways he hears about Covid at all. He ends it, "Never mind inflation and taxes; who's going to make you wear a mask again?" 

Nobody. No politician will touch it with a 10' pole despite the effect it could have on the economy by reducing illnesses and deaths. We're just going to talk about IAQ possibilities for years before implementation and not suggest masks in the meantime.