The fed up of truckers against sanitary measures is felt by traders who allow their customers to ignore the obligation to wear the mask.
Sanitary measures, “it becomes sickly” and “it’s more a question of punishment than protection”, pleads Marie-Pier Labelle, owner of the Nutrition Xtreme business in L’Assomption, in Lanaudière.
This juice and smoothie bar announced to its customers via social media on Friday that it would no longer be necessary for them to wear a mask to be served inside.
A poster inspired by the graphic codes of the government on which one can read “here we respect your choice” was installed on its front door.
This is civil disobedience since wearing a mask is still compulsory in closed public places in Quebec. It thus exposes itself to fines in the event of non-compliance.
Photo taken from TikTok
The poster she put up to replace the government one.
She is vaccinated
Even if she says she is doubly vaccinated and respects the measures from the start, Mme Labelle was inspired by the movement of truckers who have been paralyzing Ottawa and border crossings since the end of January with the initial objective of bringing down all health measures in the country.
The announcement of this business generated thousands of reactions and shares on Facebook.
Other establishments, such as the Dorval Nutrition juice bar and the Déménagement CL company, have decided to follow suit and also challenge this health measure.
“I did not expect that as a reaction at all”, explains Marie-Pier Labelle, who indicates that a large majority of customers now take advantage of this to enter his business without a mask.
A week ago, the government of Quebec announced that most of the health measures would be lifted on March 14, except for wearing a mask and the vaccine passport.
For the president of the Association of Microbiologists of Quebec, Christian Jacob, wearing the mask will be necessary to control the pandemic, “at least until spring”.
“I expect this to be the last measure to be lifted,” he said. From a prevention point of view, it seems to work well, but it’s also easy to apply. There is no economic impact to wearing a mask. »
“Not an Argument”
For him, “being sick” of wearing the mask, “is not an argument”.
“If we let go of everything at the same time, that’s where we can have surprises. The pandemic doesn’t care whether we are disgusted or not. »
Mme Labelle says she expects to receive fines for her decision, which she fully assumes.
For its part, the police of L’Assomption were not aware that this trade violated a health measure when contacted by Le Journal.
The socio-community officer Alain Benoit indicated that the police department does not make rounds to verify the application of the measures, but that it applies zero tolerance when called by a citizen.
The Sûreté du Québec has conducted more than 8,000 visits on its territory and issued more than 300 statements of offense or general offense reports for non-compliance with measures since 1er December 2021.