Calgary doctor files human rights complaint over changes to mask rules on airplanes
A family doctor in Calgary has filed a human rights complaint over Ottawa's decision to no longer require masks on airplanes to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The federal government has announced the end of mandatory vaccination, quarantine and masks on planes and trains starting Saturday.
Dr. David Keegan, who has a cardiopulmonary condition, said he was quite concerned when he heard Monday's announcement and filed his complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission that afternoon.
"Airplanes are relatively small volume and there are people in them," he said in an interview Wednesday.
"Even with masking, there can be spread of COVID. But suddenly, if now masks are not required, there are going to be some people in an aircraft who either knowingly or unknowingly have COVID and could be easily spreading it to other people."
Keegan said COVID-19 can be a deadly and disabling disease, leading to complex health issues for weeks or months after being infected.
The Public Health Agency of Canada still strongly recommends that people wear masks, particularly in crowded environments such as planes and trains.
"The science is clear: wearing a mask is clearly a means of personal protection that is extremely effective," Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief health officer, said Monday. "I hope Canadians will make an enlightened decision about this."
Keegan, who's also a professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, said he will continue to wear a mask if he's required to travel — as he had to recently to go to Toronto for surgery — but he's no longer sure he can fly.
"The problem is one-way masking doesn't provide anywhere near the protection as if all parties are masking," he said. "COVID is airborne, so the air gets contaminated when somebody is simply speaking who has COVID."
Keegan said if that person is wearing a mask, it can filter some of the virus.
"What I am seeking is reasonably clean air and requiring masking on airplanes is a great way and easy way to keep the shared air in aircraft reasonably less contaminated," he said.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said earlier this week that the negative attitudes of some passengers have made it difficult for airlines and crews to enforce the mask mandate in recent months, and cited that as a factor in the decision.
"The transmission of the variants of COVID are domestic-based, for the most part, and therefore, this is what we should stress: masking is highly recommended … but it is not something that can be, in a sense, forced," Duclos said Monday.
Keegan, however, questioned why mandatory masking would be removed if domestic transmission is driving COVID-19 cases.
"It actually makes no sense. I just don't understand that argument," he said.
"If he's saying COVID in Canada is being spread domestically, then why on Earth would you remove a key thing to limit domestic spread? It makes no scientific or logical sense at all."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.