Students, admin, and instructors are among the hundreds of people calling for Simon Fraser University (SFU) to follow the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) lead by making masks mandatory for all..“Kudos to UBC for being a leader in this, but it is embarrassing for SFU not to follow suit,” reads the petition set forth by SFU teaching assistant, Kayli Jamieson..“SFU students also may be immunocompromised themselves and vulnerable. ‘Individualism’ as public health policy is rooted in privilege and ableism.”.Jamieson says students who signed up for in-person courses should not have to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with someone not wearing a mask, therefore the covering of people’s airways with fabric must be re-instituted as policy. Doing so will combat the “ableism” hidden under the surface of individual choice, as she puts it..Unlike SFU, UBC takes Jamieson’s preferred collectivist approach. Believing the risk is too great, UBC will not allow its students to uncover their faces until the end of the semester..“We urge all members of our community to receive their COVID-19 vaccine booster dose. As we approach spring, we would also like to thank our students, faculty and staff for their commitment to the university,” reads the statement from UBC..“I’m an SFU instructor and it’s just common sense to continue to protect those with compromised immune systems,” writes Natalie Gagnon on the petition page..“No one should be forced to learn or work while afraid.”.Staff and students having unvaccinated children younger than five-years-old is among the petition’s reasoning..Aside from universities, it is not uncommon for British Columbians — particularly in the Metro Vancouver area — to walk into a grocery store and see roughly half of the shoppers still wearing face-coverings..Various businesses and organizations still require masks for all..BC provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has alluded to re-instituting province-wide mandates in the future, saying she will “keep those in our back pocket for those times when we might need to use them again.”.In Alberta, similarly to BC universities, the Student’s Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) is “concerned” by the province lifting its mask mandates and is calling for the continuation of mask wearing on campus..For those still subject to mask mandates, such as UBC students and staff, a variety of companies have popped up selling visually deceptive and highly breathable face-coverings..Reid Small is a BC-based reporter for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
