Maskless bandits boasting on Facebook

There is a movement across the province of self-proclaimed freedom fighters refusing to wear a mask in public places and posting selfies on Facebook inside stores and buildings.

“Ici je porte un sourire”, a play on the Quebec government’s “Ici je porte mon couvre-visage” campaign, is the catchphrase associated with the movement, which has several Facebook pages representing different regions of Quebec. Some are private, listing local businesses where people can be mask-free without fear of repercussion. Others are public and include posts of people photographing themselves inside stores, with a caption naming the store and the level of resistance they encountered from staff, if any, for not wearing a mask.

One of the groups, called Commerces du Québec où on respecte l’intimité de votre dossier medical (businesses in Quebec where we respect the privacy of your medical history), has over 60,000 members. The photos posted on the page of people openly disobeying mask regulations are often lauded in the comments.

The Record the issue is provincewide but added that masks remain obligatory in public places for the time being.

“It’s not an option,” Pépin said, despite the fact that some store owners and citizens are ignoring the rules. “I’ve had to call a few.”

Refusing to wear a mask inside a public place comes with a $1,500 fine, the Lieutenant said.

According to Pépin, the CNESST rules explaining that employees can remove their masks if their desks are a safe distance, and the upcoming changes on Monday reducing the required distance between two people from two metres to one have muddied the waters.

“Some people are confusing the rules,” he said, “but that doesn’t apply in public places.”

When asked how the RPM was handling businesses identified online as places where masks were not required, Pépin said a lot of stores had no idea they had been singled out.

It’s difficult for a business owner to have to enforce the law, Pépin explained. “The bottom line is they’re not the Covid police.”

That said, refusing to wear a mask indoors in public is still illegal at the moment, Pépin commented.

While the RPM is not tracking down people who openly disobey the rules and post about it on Facebook, Pépin said if police walk in or are called to a public place and see someone refusing to wear a mask, they will get a fine.

“It’s not fun,” Pépin said, but at the end of the day there are rules in place and it is the responsibility of police to enforce them.

“We are anxious to do real police work again,” Pépin said.

Covid update

Quebec reported 75 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. There are currently 658 active cases in the province. No deaths were reported, and hospitalizations by six for a total of 79. There are 25 people in intensive care, no change from the day before.

For the first time in four days, the Estrie region reported new cases; one was in Sherbrooke, the other in the Haute-yamaska. There are 23 active cases in the region at the moment.