The Statistics of Hostility Towards Public Health
C’mon, mask wars in Canada? We expect as much from our neighbor, but here? Sadly, yes. Let’s start with some statistics to reveal the magnitude of disagreement. In a survey conducted at the end of June by Abacus Data, 1,500 Canadian adults were asked questions about wearing masks. Probably best if you check it out for yourself here, but below are a few statistics to pique your interest:
- 1 of 3 Canadians always wear a mask in a public place like a retail outlet; 1 of 4 never do
- 6 of 10 Canadians would prefer mask-wearing to be mandatory indoors [where you’ll encounter others]
- Among urban centers, support for a mandatory approach is highest in greater Toronto and lowest in greater Montreal
- The data suggests you’re more likely to see people wearing masks in Ontario and least likely to see this in Saskatchewan / Manitoba / Atlantic Canada
- Conservative Party voters are only about 10% more likely to never wear a mask than those who vote for other parties
A few of the statistics point to trends that might be considered universal across nations, such as this one: “Men are significantly less likely to wear masks compared to women”. Other conclusions seem to be somewhat at odds with what we’ve observed in Montreal. In the national survey, “Resistance to wearing masks is highest among those in the 45–59 age group”. Yet in Montreal, the people who seem most apathetic about masks appear to be in their 20s and 30s. Hardly shocking that Montrealers between 20–29 make up the second-highest demographic of cases. A pleasant surprise we’ve noticed in Montreal is how plenty of teenagers are wearing masks, despite their status as among the least at risk of suffering the disease’s gravest consequences.
Mask Rage in North America
The “United” States is characterized by more people, more guns, more polarization, and more toxic attitudes than in Canada. Not coincidentally, Muricans are more likely to resolve disputes with a gun. Including, ironically, shootings over public health measures. Employees faced a hail of bullets after asking gun-toting customers to wear a mask in states across the nation: Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Colorado, Michigan, and (of course) Texas.
While you have a much higher chance of being gunned down in the States, mask rage has proven to be deadly in Canada, too. A senior citizen was fatally shot by police in Ontario after he assaulted a store employee. Why did he assault the grocer? “The guy just didn’t want to wear a mask”, said the store owner. Prior to this incident, another senior citizen elsewhere in Ontario assaulted store employees over social distancing. (You would think men in their 70s would want to help stamp out SARS-CoV-2?)
Here in Quebec, armed assault with a vehicle was one of the charges against a shopper for putting a Walmart security guard from southern Quebec in critical condition with a head injury. Why did he do it? Apparently he didn’t agree with social distancing. Women also join in on the craze occasionally—and the violence isn’t just toward those who are promoting public health. In one instance in Ontario, a woman assaulted a fellow shopper for not social distancing.
We wonder: do anti-maskers ever wonder why hospital staff wear masks?
Historic Recurrence
An optimist sees an opportunity to not make the same mistakes that were made in the past. But given the glaring shortcomings in North American public education curriculums combined with their paltry funding, many citizens lack critical thinking skills (much less a historical foundation to build upon).
But if we can learn anything from San Francisco’s history in 1918 and 1919, perhaps it’s to emerge from a lockdown slowly and smartly — and also to take individual accountability in the collective cause to stem the spread of disease.”
— Katie Canales in Business Insider, June 3, 2020
Mask wars have happened before in Murica. Recent journalism cites San Francisco during the H1N1 flu of 1918 as the birthplace of anti-mask sentiment. Even though the surgical masks of the time were constructed from a gauze that was ineffective compared with today’s surgical masks, the masks of 1918 still helped mitigate H1N1. It’s not rocket science, people: masks inhibit the spread of viruses like H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2. Today we hear the same misplaced, petty whining about “constitutional rights” and “personal liberty” that was heard a century ago, despite the lack of stern enforcement now that did occur in 1918–19.
The Statistics of Mask Wars in Canada
Below are selected results from Canadian Perspectives Survey Series 3: Resuming economic and social activities during COVID-19, a report issued by Statistics Canada on July 8, 2020. The survey is considered statistically representative of the Canadian population. Notice the trends for Quebec.
- 80% of immigrants were likely to report that they would wear masks in public places, versus 61% of Canadian-born individuals
- 53% of Canadians living in rural areas reported that they would wear masks in public, versus 68% living in urban areas
- In Quebec and Ontario, 2 of 5 workers reported that they did not feel safe returning to work, versus 1 of 4 in other regions
- 74% of Quebec residents reported that they would self-isolate if they have symptoms, versus at least 82% in all other regions
- Only 52% in Quebec reported that they would wear a mask in public when physical distancing is difficult, versus 78% in Ontario
Anti-maskers don’t care about you. Anti-maskers cry like little babies about putting a piece of cloth across their face during a public health crisis.
The Psychology of Masks in Quebec
Is it surprising to learn that Quebecois culture appears to be more incongruent with mask compliance than elsewhere in Canada? Not really. According to a McGill psychology professor interviewed by the Gazette in July, resistance to masks may in part be due to Quebec’s status as a distinct society—and a different provincial attitude towards “adherence to rules and community norms.” According to a McGill law professor, mask aversion could possibly even be related to the theoretically secular state preaching about the value of giving and receiving services with an uncovered face.
On top of reasons particular to Quebec, we have the usual psychological mechanisms that prevent North Americans from wearing masks: they interfere with the individual’s vanity and there’s usually a lack of tangible cause and effect (the benefits are nearly never immediately apparent to the individual). Like seatbelts, masks can feel awkward and uncomfortable. But we became accustomed to seatbelts, and few today argue against the benefits of seatbelts.
Denial is not a river in Egypt (it’s in Quebec)
On August 8, thousands of Quebecers converged in Montreal to protest mandatory mask regulations. This insult to the world’s scientists was disheartening to level-headed Quebecers and embarrassing to most Canadians. If wearing a mask is an “effort to control the population”, what exactly does the Quebec government get out of people wearing masks? Paranoid theories don’t pass the most basic sniff tests. Especially when we live in a province where the government has done their best (prior to 2020) at getting Quebecers to take off things worn on the head.
The only good thing to come out of the whole sordid affair was a flurry of well-deserved mocking on Twitter, like this:
Coronavirus reactions: Canadians versus Muricans
In surveys of 29 countries done by Britain’s YouGov, over 1,000 Canadians were surveyed five times this year about the pandemic. As of June, here’s the data comparing Canada with its neighbor:
- 70% of Canadians reported improved personal hygiene habits compared with 60% of Americans
- 62% of Canadians have stopped directly touching elevator buttons and other objects in public places compared with 46% of Americans
- 76% of Canadians avoided crowded places compared with 63% of Americans
- 80% of Canadians reported thinking their government has handled the pandemic very or somewhat well compared with 38% of Americans
- Only 58% of Canadians regularly wore masks when out in public compared with 71% of Americans
- In fact, Canadians wore masks less than residents of most other countries involved in the surveys
Science: A Casualty in the Mask Wars
To people of a certain age, the current distrust of science in some quarters is reminiscent of frustrations with science in recent decades. In 1980, limiting fat intake to 30% of calories was widely promoted as beneficial against heart disease, the leading cause of death [then and now] in the States. The recommendation was based upon evidence that had accumulated since the 1940s. But during the late 1990s and early 2000s, nutritionists were realizing that fat recommendations had led to highly refined carbohydrates being substituted for fat (in part due to the concoctions of food scientists creating new “foods”). Many in the public became fed up with science as a result of nutrition scientists being “wrong” about fat.
What does this have to do with COVID-19? Some are upset that public health recommendations have changed during the course of the pandemic. For example: Early in the pandemic, federal agencies / officials were worried that asymptomatic Canadians would touch their faces excessively if they wore masks. But as real world events reshape assumptions and theoretical models are adjusted accordingly, changes in recommendations can be expected. Scientists must grin and bear it when the millions of citizens ignorant of the scientific method sew distrust in science itself.
Public health authorities understand that shaming people who don’t wear masks is probably counterproductive. But for the majority of the public who do make sacrifices, it can be difficult to resist shaming those who do not.
Help extinguish the mask wars in Canada
In early July, wearing a mask became a requirement for entering St. John’s International Airport. This is in Canada’s easternmost province where they flattened the curve in April and then had no active cases since June 18. Unlike the polarized response we’d expect in the “United” States, the fine Canadians of that province didn’t raise a stink about the requirement.
Canadians don’t chiefly base their decision to wear a mask on politics. But with the spread of coronavirus conspiracy theories (first propagated down in the land of Guns n’ MAGAts), this could change. Canadians must remain vigilant against the anti-science agenda seeping up from the southern neighbor’s right-wing populist cult.