In an effort to limit the spread of Covid-19, police can now fine you up to $6000 for not wearing your mask–as of Saturday September 12th
Of course this has been coming for quite some time and no doubt it was to be expected. It’s no big news to anyone that there are those out there refusing to wear a mask in public spaces, especially businesses all over the city. Social media is aflame with those for or against the decision and as it should be, as we are a democracy after all. But perhaps those refusing to wear a mask aren’t seeing the whole overall picture.
Just recently the government of Quebec stated that masks were mandatory in all public spaces like stores and restaurants and others. Now call it a “gracing period” or what have you, but as of last Saturday, the government would be issuing hefty fines to anyone not wearing a mask in said places, and those fines would be hefty ones indeed.
The pandemic leading up to this
If you’ll permit me a small review, the pandemic is one that is proving quite difficult to pass over in terms of moving forward. It seems to have a stronghold on many nations the world over and keeping it contained seems to be quite difficult to do, especially for those governing the many nations the world over.
Here in Quebec, Premiere Legault has done everything in his power along with his administration to rid the region of the pandemic. Of course, there are those that have criticized his decisions, but then again that can be said of any governing body in North America as well.
At the end of the day, all they can do is what we are doing … listen to those that know what they’re talking about and hope for a resolution to these issues.
The fines themselves
To say that the fines are expensive would be quite simple to state just that and stop there. In essence, the fines are extraordinarily expensive, but they were set in place for good reason. Many have been fined over the gracing period since masks became mandatory and yes, there were even some arrests if you all remember the recent Tim Horton’s incident in the city where a local man was tackled to the ground out of refusing to wear a mask in the restaurant. So yeah … this has been coming for quite some time, but in the end, it’s all for a good cause, no matter how crazy it’s gotten out there—and believe me when I say it’s gotten crazy.
The government has stated over and over again that the masks do help, and in the end, they hope that these masks or rather the wearing of them will help in stopping the spread of Covid-19. The fines themselves will act as inspiration, and will hopefully dissuade those not willing to comply.
Karaoke bars
As it turns out, Karaoke bars will be closing, or rather not allowing patrons to enter the stage area of particular establishments, if they have one where singing at the microphone is possible. This practice was obviously a problem, as those at the mic would certainly rip off their masks and try to belt out one of their favorite songs in order to have a good time and essentially garnering themselves a few seconds of notoriety.
The closing of these bars and or stage areas is also good sense, very much like the fining of not wearing masks, and if you think about it, you’ll agree as well.
Who we’re doing this for
In the end, perhaps it gets lost in the media and out there on social media as to why we’re doing this. Covid-19 doesn’t affect everyone the same way and those that have gotten it and have gotten over it are certainly not those that are severely at risk. So who, in the end, are we doing all this for?
The sick, the old and those that are at a higher risk for whatever reason are those we must protect out there. So … in the end, if that means wearing a mask when we go out and washing our hands an exaggerated amount of times and even singing at home alone or in the shower until this thing passes us by, I’d say those at risk are well worth the discomfort. Wouldn’t you?
