{"id":614,"date":"2022-11-25T20:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T01:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reloading\/?p=614"},"modified":"2022-12-02T19:28:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T00:28:13","slug":"public-school-trustees-pass-on-mask-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reloading\/2022\/11\/25\/public-school-trustees-pass-on-mask-motion\/","title":{"rendered":"Public-school trustees pass on mask motion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Simon Hopkins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a contentious debate, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustees rejected a mask requirement for public school classrooms Thursday evening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board held a special online meeting Thursday that followed a public and in-person meeting earlier in the week that was disrupted by members of the public who protested bringing masks back into schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both meetings were organized to discuss a motion by Zone 9 trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth to  require masks in schools. Kaplan-Myrth\u2019s motion responded to an increase in respiratory illnesses among children in Ontario. Trustees voted 6-6 Thursday night, and the split wasn\u2019t enough to pass the motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate comes as the Children\u2019s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa (CHEO) has recently opened a second pediatric ICU to deal with the ongoing surge it is facing. People over 16 are also being redirected to other hospitals for emergency and in-patient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors from both Ottawa Public Health and the provincial government have recommended people wear masks in indoor settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview Friday afternoon, Patrick Fafard, a University of Ottawa professor and expert in public health policy, discussed the changing discourse around health. He explained that pushback to government policies is not new, though how it is being done has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the most effective lobbying campaign tactics is simply to create doubt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loud voices online are using their own evidence to contest the government\u2019s evidence-based decision-making, Fafard said, adding these voices successfully cast doubt on the credibility of public officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all-garbage science, but that\u2019s not the point,\u201d he said. \u201cThe point is that people figured a way to appeal to science, to try and find what ultimately is a deeply normative position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further explained that the reality of good science is that it constantly changes and evolves. But for the public, this can look like uncertainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with the public level of government that is school boards, a group can greatly influence decisions and outweigh experts\u2019 voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine Moulaison, co-chair of the Ottawa Carleton Association of School Councils, said she didn\u2019t feel the 6-6 vote in the school board meeting was representative of parents. She said all four of her children were sick with RSV as her local school deals with an outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition on social media and in-person at the Tuesday meeting, she said, seemed louder than it actually was. \u201cBecause they decided to go about it in such an abrupt way, unfortunately, it tends to draw more attention,” Moulaison said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She felt supporters of a mask requirement weren\u2019t spoken to enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyra Evans, the board chair, said the disruptive community members who were at Tuesday night\u2019s meeting did not impact her vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say that my community has been very in favour of a masking requirement,\u201d she said in an interview Friday, acknowledging that the sentiment varied from region to region, with other trustees finding the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Orl\u00e9ans East-Cumberland\/Orl\u00e9ans South-Navan, trustee Donna Dickson estimated more than half of the messages she got were from people who were opposed to the mandate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I voted, I listened to the people that voted for me in Orl\u00e9ans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said there had always been long waits at CHEO and other impacting factors to weigh against the advice of officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government is not telling us to mandate, the doctors are not telling us to wear masks,\u201d she said. \u201cSo why is it that when one individual wants to bring that forward, that we should mandate all students when they\u2019ve had this mandate last year \u2013 nobody followed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Nov. 14 Ontario\u2019s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said he is \u201cstrongly recommending that all Ontarians, not just those at high risk, wear a mask in indoor public settings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, CHEO\u2019s chief medical officer called on members of the community to wear masks to reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses that have led to more children in hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces including schools,\u201d Dr. Lindy Samson said in a public statement issued on Nov. 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: The spelling of Christine Moulaison’s name was corrected on Dec. 2.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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