On the first day that masks aren’t required in low-risk indoor public places, B.C.’s premier says given his immune-compromised status, he’ll continue to wear his face covering in public. John Horgan completed the last of 35 radiation sessions in late January following surgery for throat cancer.
Masking requirements officially ended today for indoor public places in BC, with the exception of schools, where masks must be used until after spring break, and physicians’ offices and other health-care settings. Masks continue to be recommended in many places, including on public transit. Businesses can make their own decisions on mask policies.
Horgan said he has no time for mask and vaccine opponents who have said they plan to descend on Victoria next week as part of a convoy from the rest of the country.
If people in trucks and other vehicles want to come to Victoria to protest health measures by honking their horns, “then I feel really sad for you,” Horgan told CFAX host Al Ferraby Friday morning.
“Turn on your television and look at what’s happening in Ukraine right now, go on the internet and do some research on the profound impacts of inequality in our societies around the world and then maybe you have something to get excited about.”
With 91 per cent of people age 12 and older in B.C. fully vaccinated, those protesting masks and vaccines are “a fraction of the population and quite frankly, they get way more attention than they deserve,” Horgan said.
The premier said he wants to focus how to assist the people of Ukraine, how to lift people out of poverty in B.C. and how to stabilize the economy.
“If people want to drive around and honk their horns, then fill your boots,” said Horgan. “And at $2 a litre [for gas] that’s not only bad judgment, that’s stupidity.”
B.C.’s solicitor general Mike Farnworth said earlier this week that legal protest is part of a free and democratic society, but occupations are not.
James Bauder, one of the founders of the “freedom convoy” that occupied Ottawa for three weeks, has said in a video posted to social media the convoy plans to visit B.C.'s capital, with events planned for at least a week. The original date of arrival in Victoria was suggested to be March 14, but according to the group’s website, the convoy is set to arrive in the “Vancouver area” by March 21.
Victoria Police Chief Del Manak told Victoria council Thursday that the department is aware of the planned convoy and is working on a response plan.
B.C. was targeted by the group as one of the last jurisdictions to still have vaccine and indoor mask requirements. It’s unclear whether the elimination of the health order for masks, and plans for the B.C. Vaccine Card showing proof of vaccination to expire April 8, will affect the convoy.
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/horgan-says-hell-keep-wearing-a-mask-feels-sad-for-horn-honking-protesters-5151509