Central Alberta parents again call for school mask mandates to be lifted

While many of Alberta's COVID-19 restrictions could be gone within weeks, hundreds of people demonstrated in Innisfail on Monday to say they don't want to wait that long. 

Protesters gathered outside the head office of Chinook's Edge School Division, calling for mask mandates for students to be scrapped.

Sherease Corcoran has three children in school and says they shouldn't have to wear masks in the classroom anymore.

"We are over it," she's said. "It's been two long years, and our kids deserve to see each other's faces and not be hassled". 

Alberta's education minister and the provincial teachers' union implored protesters over the weekend to stay away from schools, saying staff and students were getting scared  

That plea came after RCMP officers escorted protesters out of a school in Dunmore on Friday, after they snuck inside.

A day earlier, Bowden's K-12 school moved all its classes following a small anti-mask protest that led to online threats against staff. 

"We don't want to show up in the school and cause damage and trauma to the children," said Tammy Ryrie, who helped organize the Innisfail protest.

"We wanted to go where the adults are, the people who make the decisions, and do it the right way."

Kurt Sacher with the Chinook's Edge School Division said they were happy protesters were peaceful and stayed away from schools on Monday.

"We really appreciate that, schools are no place for protests," he said.

Still, Sacher points out that the school board doesn't make the COVID rules, it just enforces them. 

Other experts point out the restrictions are there for a reason — to protect public health. 

"Governments have put in many restrictions on behaviour and activity because they are pursuing an objective that competes with complete freedom," said Lisa Young, a political scientist at the University of Calgary.

"And for the most part we've come to accept those restrictions because they do pursue a meaningful objective."

Alberta's premier has hinted that some provincial restrictions will soon be gone, starting with the vaccine passport.

A timeline for that is expected to be outlined Tuesday.