Mask mandates caused harm
Governments defend their flawed decision-making rather than admit error
There has rarely been a more controversial subject than the effectiveness of cloth masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. Recent studies fuel the controversy by finding the masks were ineffective and harmful, especially to school children. Other studies attempt to defend the mask mandates. The headlines on both sides are strident in their conviction.
Sometimes the tedious detail of a random control group study adds value to a scientific issue and sometimes the answer is so obvious studies cloud rather than clarify the issue. As the old saying goes: There are lies, damned lies and statistics.
A simple non-statistical test is to review how many Canadians tested positive for COVID despite the forceful efforts by the Trudeau government to compel Canadians to wear masks. The CBC (by no means a right-wing propaganda rag) reports in a recent article that 70-80% of young Canadians had been infected, a reflection of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. I would think the masks were agnostic about what variant they were supposed to prevent from spreading. The governments claims that vaccination would prevent infection has already gone down in history as nonsense and the mask mandates did little to prevent most Canadians from becoming infected. Neither mask mandates nor the vaccination of over 80% of Canadians prevented widespread infection, but the mask mandated ended careers, destroyed livelihoods, harmed early childhood education and divided society.
I was shopping today at Shoppers Drug Mart and Metro and noticed that a handful of shoppers in both retail outlets continue to wear cloth masks today. The effectiveness of Health Canada telling Canadians to wear masks cannot be denied. Prime Minister Trudeau still mandates masks on trains for example and Canadians typically obey their leaders. The Toronto Sun says Trudeau continues to peddle COVID misinformation, an understatement in my view. As recently as last July, Trudeau was vilifying Canadians for their medical choices and defending his invocation of the Emergency Act to quell a peaceful protest over mask mandates by truckers whose ability to support their families was lessened by the mandates. Reportedly, “Justin Trudeau says people who chose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must accept the consequences of those decisions, including lost employment and restricted access to transportation and other services.”
A government that denies people employment or freedom to travel can’t really claim they are not forcing citizens to comply with their mandates.
The pandemic is passing into history but the legacy of an authoritarian government in Ottawa will linger on and perhaps have an impact on the next election. Recent polls show a shift to the right.
There is mounting evidence that COVID policies have affected school success among children who depend on visual cues to learn language and social skills in early grades. Mask mandates and remote learning have come at a cost to our children. Anecdotally, recent reports in the United States are that 23 Baltimore schools now have zero children with proficiency in mathematics. I haven’t seen any data on whether a similar situation has arisen in Canada but I suspect some learning impairment has been a consequence of Trudeau’s policies.
I have always found it peculiar that Ottawa would encourage vaccination and masks for very young children who have little risk from COVID and have a high need for social interaction where our schools play an important role. Pretending to protect children while increasing their exposure to harm may be politically advantageous to Liberals seeking to hang on to power but it surely cannot have helped our young children cope with school.
Just as citizens must accept the consequences of their medical choices, Liberal politicians will have to accept the consequences of their policy choices. Lost employment may be in their future.