If it makes many happy, the lifting on May 14 of the obligation to wear a mask is greeted with tension and reserve in several circles. Some schools and businesses intend to maintain it to protect their employees and customers.
Even if wearing a mask is no longer required since March 7 in primary and secondary classes, many teachers do not intend to part with this tool anytime soon, which is now part of the “new normal”. “We expect the majority of our members to continue wearing it. This is already the case for many secondary school students, up to 75% in some schools”, says Sylvain Mallette, president of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which brings together some 50,000 teachers from preschool to secondary.
“Some students tell us: ‘We’re going to keep it, it took enough time to get used to it!’ On this, Public Health has done its education job well, ”he adds.
The AWF advocates vigilance, in particular by continuing to have access to transmission data. That said, she does not believe that school principals should be more demanding than what the Public Health Department dictates. “There is also a desire for parents for a return to normal. “But the wearing of the mask is likely to persist as long as the problem of the ventilation of the classes remains, adds Mr. Mallette.
As for private establishments, wearing a mask remained the norm in several schools and several colleges, despite the relaxations introduced in March by Public Health.
“It is above all the labor shortage that has prompted some private school administrators to play it safe,” says Léandre Lapointe, delegate for the private education group at the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN), which has nearly 34,000 professors from private colleges, CEGEPs and universities.
However, according to the latter, the decision of Public Health is “logical and natural”, given the current drop in cases. “It has to be an individual choice. We have been following science and public health since the beginning,” adds Mr. Lapointe.
The largest union in the province in the field of education, the Centrale des unions du Québec, is concerned, as in the March 7 announcement, for its members who are immunocompromised or at risk. The union, which represents 120,000 workers, is calling on Quebec for the preventive withdrawal of pregnant teachers from schools and the free distribution of masks for those who would like to continue wearing them, while recalling the obligation of employers to ensure a safe work environment. .
While the end of classes has already sounded for several higher education institutions, several universities, including Concordia, McGill and the University of Montreal, have already indicated their intention to maintain the wearing of a mask compulsory for several weeks on their campuses to the summer session.
sighs of relief
On the restaurant side, the time was more for relief on Wednesday, the compulsory mask having become one of the symbols adding to the glaring problem of recruiting labor. “If the public is no longer required to do so, there would be no consistency in requiring it from employees. On the other hand, an employee who would like to wear a mask to protect himself, we would be ill-advised to prevent him from doing so. We must expect that some will maintain it for health reasons,” argues Martin Vézina, vice-president of public and governmental affairs for the Association Restauration Québec.
This new measure is particularly welcome as the tourist season approaches, said the President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “We were going towards a difficulty in explaining why we still maintained the mask here, when it is no longer compulsory elsewhere in the world”, underlines Michel Leblanc.
In residences for seniors, the lifting of the wearing of masks was also warmly welcomed, the some 145,000 residents having had the impression of having been victims of “overconfinement”. “We welcome autonomous people, we are not CHSLDs. We are happy to have been heard. It’s time to let our seniors live,” says Marc Fortin, CEO of the Regroupement québécois des résidences pour ains, which represents more than 800 residences.
In the private sector, the withdrawal of the wearing of the mask is not unanimous either. In hairdressing, massage therapy and beauty salons, for example, it is impossible to keep one meter apart for more than an hour of contact with the same person.
Wearing a mask should therefore vary from one hair salon to another, according to the president of the Association Coiffure Québec, Stéphane Roy. “Of course there will be conflicts. Some will say that they don’t want to do their hair for customers without a mask, others who will demand to see their face, ”predicts the owner of several branches.
Within its own salons, the hundred hairdressers and colorists could be forced to wear the mask if customers so wish. “We’re going to let the customer choose,” he said.
Various companies are waiting for their part to see if the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) will enact specific measures applying to their sector of activity.
“We met the CNESST yesterday [mardi], and we await their recommendations. Certainly, if a company deems that the mask is necessary to protect its employees, it will be a business decision, ”explains Christian Bazinet, of the Council of food processing of Quebec, which represents many slaughterhouses, some of which have been affected. by large outbreaks during the pandemic.
Indeed, the proximity is great between the workers in certain factories, which could encourage companies to continue to impose the wearing of the mask, observes Véronique Proulx, president and general manager of Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec. In the majority of cases, the lifting of the obligation would however improve the well-being of employees, she judges.
“In the summer, in particular, it was difficult for the workers in the factory, with the heat, the goggles… These were not ideal conditions, and they were imposed even when they could respect the two meters of distance,” she explains.
Labor lawyer Marianne Plamondon also confirms that “employers can put in place the measures they deem necessary to ensure the protection of health and safety at work, because this is part of their obligations” . “An employer who decides to impose the continued wearing of a mask should still be able to justify it by relying on the risk specific to the job in question, following a case-by-case assessment”, specifies Ms.and Plamondon.