To mandate or not to mandate, that is the question..And Canadians are answering..Last fall, 70% of Canadians supported vaccine passports. Now, according to a new Angus Reid Institute (ARI) report, that number sits at 25%..There are regional and gender differences across the country..“While vaccine passports are not palatable in any part of the country, more than half in B.C. (55%), Ontario (55%), and Atlantic Canada (62%) would accept a mask mandate in their community,” says the report. “This enthusiasm drops below two-in-five in Alberta (36%) and Saskatchewan (38%).”.“Men younger than 55 push back against the need for public health measures. Just one-in-three would implement a mask mandate in their community compared to a majority of all other age and gender combinations.”.While only 25% favour vaccine passports, a mere 14% say travel restrictions between communities should return..Overall, 38% believe no action is needed from governments in the event of a seventh wave of COVID-19..A majority in Alberta (54%) and half in Saskatchewan believe mask mandates, vaccine passports and travel restrictions should stay in the past..More appetite for masking is apparent in Atlantic Canada (62%) than anywhere else in the country, while support for the return of vaccine passports tops out at 30% in BC..“In all regions of the country, support for mask mandates has declined significantly over time. Even as recently as February, as the country was exiting the Omicron surge, nearly three-quarters (72%) across the country and at least three-in-five in all regions supported a provincial masking policy,” says ARI..Women more than men believe masking provides protection. Women over the age of 54 are the demographic most likely to believe masking is effective against infection or serious illness at 86%. On the other side, two-in-five men under the age of 54 believe wearing a mask will do nothing to protect against COVID-19.Regardless, only 16% of Canadians say they are wearing a mask indoors around other people at places such as the grocery store or bank all the time now. In fact, 54% say they are rarely or never wearing one, which brings into question the higher number who believe masks offer protection..“The demographic that believes in the effectiveness of masking the least, men under the age of 55, are also the least likely to be wearing one at all,” says ARI. “Half of men that age say they never wear a face covering. Half of women over the age of 54 are mostly or always wearing a mask when they’re around other people, but still as many in that group say they are wearing one less than that.”.Not surprisingly, like most things today, ARI found a significant political divide over the perceived efficacy of common measures to fight COVID-19..“Nearly all of those who voted Liberal and NDP believe keeping up with vaccinations, masking in public and minimizing close contact with other people prevents COVID-19 infection, serious illness, or both. They are joined by fewer, but still a significant majority, of those who voted for the Bloc Québécois.”.“Among those who voted for the Conservatives, belief on the effectiveness of masking is split, while one-third among that group believe that vaccinations and social distancing are not effective at fighting COVID-19 at all.”
