'It may be a little bit too soon': As mask mandates lift, Ontario residents offer mixed reactions

With changes to masking requirements in Ontario cities from Hamilton to Niagara, Monday morning prompted many people to make a decision: to mask or not to mask?

While it is no longer required to wear a mask in most indoor settings like gyms, restaurants and retail, some like St. Catharines resident Bailey Turner are choosing to keep theirs on.

Turner was out at the city's Fairview Mall on Monday morning with her baby boy and said she will continue to mask up for her own protection and safety of her son.

"At this point I just feel more comfortable [with a mask] because COVID-19 is still a thing. We are still in the midst of the pandemic," Turner said.

"It may just be a little bit too soon," she said of repealing the requirement.

As of Monday, St. Catharines's masking bylaw was no longer in effect, the city's website said, falling in line with the province and other nearby cities such as Hamilton, where city council voted to rescind its bylaw in the afternoon.

For some others, like Lisa Biancanello, the change is welcome. 

Biancanello also visited Fairview Mall Monday, where she didn't wear a mask, and told CBC she feels great about the mandate being lifted.

"We've come so far, implemented all these vaccines and some are on the third and some the fourth and we've still got to wear [a mask]," Biancanello said, "It's never going to be over until we start saying, 'enough.'"

She said she hasn't faced any pushback for choosing to unmask and that most of the people in her life are also "fed up" like herself.

Still, she expects another wave of COVID-19 in future, she said.

"The wave will come again, so take advantage of not wearing it until we're forced again... but don't be ignorant about it," Biancanello said.

How to navigate conflicts over masks

Hamilton social worker Christina Harrington, with Social Work Solutions Canada, said conflict over the use of masks is likely, "similar to what we've already seen throughout the pandemic, where this has been very divisive and people often have strong and polarized feelings on either side of this."

That means potential disagreements over the topic in public or among family or peer networks, Harrington told the CBC on Monday.

She recommends a calm and collected approach when dealing with any tension going forward.

"We've seen these really challenging conversations throughout the pandemic and even dissolution of family relationships and peer relationships," Harrington said.

She said that meeting these conversations with a calm temperament and using tools like open-ended questions to understand the concerns of others is one way forward while navigating this time.

Using a more open approach tends to "open up a conversation as opposed to shut it down or escalate it," Harrington said.

Following Hamilton city council's decision Monday, the city reminded residents that "some individuals may choose to keep wearing masks in places where they are not required, and others, such as those who are close contacts of COVID-19 cases, will be required to wear masks for a period of time. 

"Local businesses and organizations may also require or encourage masking based on the risk in their workplaces and to their patrons," the statement from the city read.

"Hamilton Public Health Services strongly supports these decisions and would encourage all Hamiltonians to be kind and respectful to their neighbours, regardless of their personal choices and circumstances." 

'I don't think we're done with the pandemic'

The topic has already caused tension at home for Theresa Solomon, another St. Catharines resident. 

Solomon said she was a bit nervous heading to the gym Monday morning, where masks are no longer required, and had a disagreement with her husband before she left the house.

"I went in thinking, 'Oh, maybe I'll be the only one [not wearing a mask]," Solomon said. Most people there were maskless, except at least three, she said.

She had told her husband she was on the fence about whether to wear one.

"I said… 'I'm gonna do what I feel is right when I get there,' And he says, 'No, just take it off. Enough is enough,'" Solomon said. 

While she said she was comfortable at the gym without a mask in the end, she will still wear one in medical settings, she said.

"I do believe in it for medical purposes. Definitely, we need to keep that up for a bit, hospitals and stuff like that," Solomon said, "but it's time to get on with your life and have fun."

Others aren't ready to move on. 

While out for her lunch break in Downtown St. Catharines, Darlene Monroe had her mask off for her walk but said she will continue to wear a mask as she has been. 

"Personally I would like to see it go a bit longer," Monroe said about the mask mandate.

So far she says she hasn't faced any pushback in choosing to continue to wear the mask and sees it as a personal choice that everyone has to make. Part of her choice is because she cares for her elderly mother, she said. 

"I don't think we're done with it yet," she added, referring to the pandemic.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, would agree. He has said making masks optional does not signal that COVID-19 has disappeared, only that Ontario has come to a place where it can now manage it.