As provinces across the country remove mask mandates, opinions are mixed on whether or not face coverings should be done away with altogether.
In Nova Scotia, masks have been mandatory in indoor public spaces since July 24, 2020. That measure will end on March 21 when the province plans to lift all COVID-19 restrictions.
However, some business owners say they’ll continue to make masking mandatory.
“We are not six feet away unfortunately and we can never be,” said Alma Head, the owner of Alma’s Hair Salon in Sydney.
Head says the majority of her customers are more comfortable wearing a mask.
“I know we have to go on with our lives and learn to live with this, but we get cancellations every day with people getting COVID again,” she said.
At Sydney’s Highland Arts Theatre, artistic director Wesley Colford says staff will continue to wear masks and attendees will be asked to do so as well.
“Hopefully people will understand that’s a relatively easy investment. They can still take them off to eat or drink, but we want to do the most we can to make people feel safe,” said Colford.
As mask mandates become a thing of the past, some experts say choosing to wear a face covering could be seen as a political statement, with the responsibility to protect Canadians against COVID-19 shifting to individuals rather than a collective effort guided by public health measures .
“I can certainly see that there will be scenarios where there will be some conflict among people who serve on boards, among people who feel they’re responsible or need to be responsible in community spaces,” said Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University in Sydney.
Urbaniak says a key public health decision has been left up to individuals and organizations, with many scientists and medical professionals still feeling it’s too soon to lift face coverings all together.