The Groper never fails...
The prime minister isn't breaking the law, however, as his train wasn't federally regulated.
Despite heading one of the only Western governments to still mandate face masks on rail transport, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was conspicuously maskless as he shook hands during a Monday photo op aboard an Okanagan, B.C., steam train.
The prime minister was not breaking any laws; the Kettle Valley Steam Railway is a heritage railroad not bound by federal transport regulations. However, the visit led to cries of hypocrisy nonetheless as COVID presumably can spread just as easily on tourist trains as aboard VIA Rail trains.
As Transport Canada warned just last month, passengers can be ejected from a train and even get hit with a $5,000 fine if they’re caught maskless during the journey — or even within a station during a stop.
This is a particularly onerous requirement on some of VIA Rail’s longer cross-country routes; a trip from Vancouver to Toronto takes a minimum of four days and four nights. As VIA Rail notes in official warnings to its passengers, the only exception is “temporarily when eating or drinking.”
The scientific rationale for all this is increasingly questionable. While masking is generally a good way to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses within enclosed spaces, the federal government remains agnostic on what kinds of masks actually get worn.
With the rise of far more infectious COVID variants such as Omicron, some public health professionals have generally advised only bothering with fit-tested N95 face masks.
Regardless, Transport Canada mask mandates require only a loose-fitting cloth mask, a covering that provides vanishingly small viral protection — particularly within the well-ventilated confines of an airplane cabin or train car.
nationalpost.com
The prime minister isn't breaking the law, however, as his train wasn't federally regulated.
Despite heading one of the only Western governments to still mandate face masks on rail transport, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was conspicuously maskless as he shook hands during a Monday photo op aboard an Okanagan, B.C., steam train.
The prime minister was not breaking any laws; the Kettle Valley Steam Railway is a heritage railroad not bound by federal transport regulations. However, the visit led to cries of hypocrisy nonetheless as COVID presumably can spread just as easily on tourist trains as aboard VIA Rail trains.
As Transport Canada warned just last month, passengers can be ejected from a train and even get hit with a $5,000 fine if they’re caught maskless during the journey — or even within a station during a stop.
This is a particularly onerous requirement on some of VIA Rail’s longer cross-country routes; a trip from Vancouver to Toronto takes a minimum of four days and four nights. As VIA Rail notes in official warnings to its passengers, the only exception is “temporarily when eating or drinking.”
The scientific rationale for all this is increasingly questionable. While masking is generally a good way to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses within enclosed spaces, the federal government remains agnostic on what kinds of masks actually get worn.
With the rise of far more infectious COVID variants such as Omicron, some public health professionals have generally advised only bothering with fit-tested N95 face masks.
Regardless, Transport Canada mask mandates require only a loose-fitting cloth mask, a covering that provides vanishingly small viral protection — particularly within the well-ventilated confines of an airplane cabin or train car.
Trudeau, one of the only Western leaders to mandate masks on trains, spotted maskless on train
The prime minister isn't breaking the law, however, as his train wasn't federally regulated
nationalpost.com
