Transport Minister Omar Alghabra suggests there are no plans to remove the mandate requiring face masks on planes and trains, noting they’re a “minor inconvenience” to protect vulnerable Canadians.
In an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson, Alghabra also said the government continues to work on getting the Canadian travel industry back to normal amid a surge in travel that he says beat forecasts that there wouldn’t be a return to more normal travel levels until 2025.
The ongoing surge has seen lengthy delays and long lines for passengers over recent weeks.
“Certainly we’re dealing with some unprecedented surge,” Alghabra said.
“There’s a lot of things that we’ve seen over the last two years that have been unpredictable. But what I want Canadians to know is that the government is acting and responding quickly and in an agile manner.”
When asked whether he planned to remove the federal mandate for face masks to be worn on planes and trains, a similar version of which was struck down in a controversial decision by an American judge in that country earlier this year, Alghabra pointed to the benefits masks offer in reducing the spread of COVID-19.
“Masks continue to prove to be an effective tool at reducing transmission. Our science and data have proven and continue to prove that,” he said.
“It is a minor inconvenience that we’re asking travellers to endure that offers meaningful protections to themselves and to the passengers sitting next to them in a small enclosed space. I’m thinking of an immune-compromised person or an elderly person who’s travelling.”
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