Council critics take Plante to task for not making masks mandatory
As more Canadian cities move to make face coverings mandatory on public transit, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante told city council Monday her administration will not do so unless public health authorities advise it.
Plante made an official declaration thanking Montrealers for their efforts to flatten the curve and their resilience during the COVID-19 crisis. She asked her constituents to keep up their efforts by washing hands often, keeping their distance from others in public, and wearing masks where that is difficult.
Opposition leader Lionel Perez and independent councillor Marvin Rotrand criticized the Plante administration for what they consider to be an inconsistent stance on face coverings.
Rotrand noted the city of Toronto announced last week that as of July 2, the TTC will require riders to wear a mask on public transit (although riders will not be fined if they do not comply). Ottawa’s OC Transpo began requiring the same as of Monday. Rotrand added that in most large cities in the world, face coverings have been obligatory on public transit for months already.
“I don’t understand an administration that spends the money to have masks distributed, tells people to take them, but won’t tell people it is obligatory to wear them,” he said, adding he is very concerned that Montreal is being reopened too quickly. “If Montreal was a country, we would have one of the worst death tolls in the world for COVID -19.”
Perez noted that Montrealers represent more than half of Quebec’s COVID-19 deaths, and more than a third of Canadian deaths. He, too, chided the administration for not making mask wearing obligatory on buses and the métro, and he accused Plante of waiting for a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall to decide whether such a move is necessary.
Plante repeated her position that her administration strongly encourages transit users to wear face coverings, but said she was not sure that making it obligatory and enforceable by police or transit employees makes sense. She added that if public health authorities decide it is necessary to do so, she will not hesitate.
Executive committee member Rosannie Filato responded to more questions about masks from the public as the meeting continued Monday evening. She said so far, all public health authorities have called for is a strong message from the city encouraging mask wearing on public transit, a message Plante has sent many times.
“We want to make sure vulnerable populations have access, that the masks are available on a widespread basis, and that’s why the STM is distributing them,” Filato said. “I do want to send a strong message to the population to wear a mask anywhere where the guidelines on distancing can’t be respected and that includes public transit. We do want to encourage Montrealers to use public transit. It is really extremely important to wear the mask in those public spaces.”
Mary Deros, councillor for Parc Extension, noted that Monday was Elder Abuse Awareness Day as she lauded the resilience of elderly Montreal residents who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
“I mourn those who have died, left alone in our system, and I praise the ones who recovered,” Deros said. “May June 15 be a moment of remembrance for us, may we remember how we treated our elders in the CHSLDS and may conditions improve so that they never again be abused and neglected in this way, ever.”
Montreal North Mayor Christine Black thanked the constituents of her borough, which she called “the epicentre of the epicentre of the COVID -19 crisis.” She said the pandemic revealed the exceptional solidarity of the citizens of her borough.
“Everyone put their shoulders to the wheel to respect the COVID -19 guidelines, and to flatten the curve. They showed up in great numbers to the testing centres and I am very proud of that and I thank them again.”
Black also thanked the many community groups in Montreal North who are helping the borough administration combat the virus by distributing tens of thousands of masks and face coverings, getting food to people in need and offering counselling help to those in psychological distress.
Council also passed a motion recognizing the important contribution asylum seekers have made to Montreal’s COVID -19 fight, many working in essential services such as health care and long-term care facilities. The motion “salutes the openness of the Quebec and Canadian governments to evaluate the possibility of regularizing the status of asylum seekers working in the health system, long-term care facilities, and supports all steps in this direction.”