Of course Ottawa will wear the mask — we roll with rules

On Monday evening, the woman in front of me at Metro — probably the only customer in line without a mask — turned to offer an explanation.

“I’m not an A-----e. I have asthma,” and she turned around, jostling two plastic jugs of lemonade, her lively defence resting.

As of midnight Monday night, we entered a time when those without masks in stores, malls and other indoor spaces will, unfairly or not, be judged — another page in COVID-19’s handbook of moral conduct. (14 days, five people, 10 people, two meters, now mandatory masks; the code grows weekly.)

The new rules are aimed at stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus and put the onus on patrons and store operators to ensure customers enter with proper face covering over the mouth, nose and chin. (There are exceptions: young children, those with breathing difficulties and those with an inability to easily put the mask on and off. Proof of those claims will not be required.)

For now, Ottawa Public Health is relying on “good faith” to achieve the goal, though fines as high as $800 may be possible after a 10-day warning period.

Of course, Ottawa will largely comply. It’s how we roll as a government town — we don’t just follow rules, we’re in the rule-making business. (And it works: Note zero new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday.)

We took a trip downtown to sample compliance. Though ridership was light, I couldn’t find a soul on the LRT who was not wearing a mask, as they became mandatory on public transit on June 15. (One regular transit rider told me young people are a particular problem, though. He said they take the free mask, only to pocket it once the train is underway.)

Inside the CF Rideau Centre, I would estimate at least three-quarters of mall walkers/ shoppers were wearing masks and a security guard was offering free ones to anyone without. Hand sanitizer was also readily available.

General manager Brian O’Hoski said the centre is so far pleased with how patrons are complying.

“It’s very early days, but I think our uptake has been surprisingly good,” with staff and store operators trying to lead by example. He said business is improving day-by-day, though hours are still restricted (11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays) and the throngs of office workers, commuters and students have yet to fully return.

O’Hoski said staff can’t force customers to wear a mask, and would call bylaw officers only if enforcement became a problem.

Most passersby who talked with Postmedia had no problem wearing a mask in a store, saying it contributed to our collective safety and was a minor inconvenience compared with the devastating human and economic consequences of the pandemic, which struck with full force in mid-March.

Mary Chatz was outside near the relocated Senate, with her husband. They’re visiting her brother in Ottawa for a couple of days.

She carries a mask in a sealed bag in her purse, while her husband has one tucked into his Tilley-style hat. She is a reluctant mask-wearer.

“We will wear them in places where people ask us to wear them, but if not, we won’t.”

They spoke of the vast majority of deaths that have occurred in long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec and the pitfalls of wearing a mask if a person keeps touching it with their (possibly infected) hands.

It’s not really mandatory unless they fine you for not wearing it. At the end of the day, it’s just a suggestion.

She shakes her head at people who wear masks in the middle of a large outdoor space or those driving alone in their own vehicles.

“If you’re unwell, you shouldn’t be going out. If you’re unwell, wear your mask. But the rest of the world doesn’t need to prance around in a mask.”

A young man named Nicholas was buying fries from a chip truck on Queen Street. He, too, carries a mask in his pocket and slips it on whenever he takes transit.

But he said he’d shy away from a mall where he had to wear it all the time, preferring to patronize stores that have their own door on the street, shop online or travel to Montreal for better selection.

He wondered about the lack of fines during the transition period.

“It’s not really mandatory unless they fine you for not wearing it. At the end of the day, it’s just a suggestion.”

The rules require store employees to wear masks unless they work behind Plexiglas-style barriers or in areas off-limits to the public.

The policy also requires employees to give customers “a verbal reminder” if they enter without proper face covering and suggests staff be trained to handle hostile patrons.

And there will be some, this being a long, annoying journey of sacrifice, now cradled in a heat wave.