Canadian politicians and some legacy media journalists want to see masks make a big comeback as several major cities across Canada deal with high smoke level warnings as a result of seasonal wildfires.
The most prominent public figure to recommend masking in response to wildfires was Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
“So, for all of these people, including others that may want to protect themselves against the bad consequences of bad quality air, wearing an N95 mask is the recommended procedure by health authorities,” said Duclos.
Environment Canada has also said in a statement that masking is recommended for anyone who chooses to be outdoors.
“These fine particles generally pose the greatest risk to health. However, respirators do not reduce exposure to the gasses in wildfire smoke,” Environment Canada told BBC News.
Numerous legacy media outlets including CBC News, CTV News, Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen have also called on Canadians to don masks outdoors.
“If you must spend time outdoors, a well-fitted N95 mask can help reduce your exposure,” Environment Canada meteorologist, Monica Vaswani, told the Ottawa Citizen.
According to the CBC, the smoky air will require “pandemic-style solutions” like N95 masks and being locked down indoors.
Additionally, Toronto Star pondered whether it was “time to bring back masks” in an article published on Tuesday.
Individual politicians and journalists also took to Twitter to advocate for a return to masking.
“It’s another smoky day in Ottawa and it’s back to wearing a mask,” tweeted Liberal MP Lloyd Longfield.
It’s another smoky day in Ottawa and it’s back to wearing a mask. Climate change is real, and days like this come as a reminder that polluting should not be free. It will take a while to turn this ship around but we all need to work together to change course. pic.twitter.com/rpsdolNok6
— Lloyd Longfield (@LloydLongfield) June 6, 2023
The President of Alberta’s Green Party Evelyn Tanaka also tweeted that wearing a mask will be now needed for multiple seasons.
“There are only two seasons now. Winter and fire season. You’ll need to wear a mask in both for different reasons,” tweeted Tanaka.
There are only two seasons now. Winter and fire season. You'll need to wear a mask in both for different reasons. https://t.co/SRAPSWc2z0
— Evelyn Tanaka (@EvTanaka) June 6, 2023
CBC Radio podcast host Min Dhariwal also joined in on the conversation, calling on people to “get yourself a mask.”
Are you serious dude?https://t.co/OlfzZWKxjl
— Min Dhariwal💧 (@MinDhariwal) June 7, 2023
Remember all the fires last year in America, and the years before that, and the smoke that screwed us up in Canada?
Of course not.
Calm down, get yourself a mask, and take off your ALL CAPS already!
We're all in this together. https://t.co/tQw35Dps0o
Dhariwal was joined by CBC’s “The Sunday Magazine” host Piya Chattopadhyay who regretted packing her N95 masks away prior to the wildfires.
Last weekend, I packed up
— Piya Chattopadhyay (@piya) June 7, 2023
All our N95 masks for storage. Dumb move.
Others like Buzzfeed’s Ivor Tossell tweeted about masking both indoors and outdoors.
Mask indoors for pandemics, mask outdoors for climate change
— Ivor Tossell (@ivortossell) June 6, 2023
