Ontario teachers' union, parents express concerns over the end of mandatory masking in schools
The province’s top doctor announced Wednesday that mask mandates in most public settings, including schools, will lift as of March 21.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) calls the decision premature.
“I know our educators want to be able to see the smiles of the students they’re interacting with and other educators, but we need to move with caution,” ETFO President Karen Brown told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.
Browns points to low vaccination rates among children age five to 11, classroom crowding and uneven ventilation as reasons for continued concern.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) questions the timeline for dropping masks.
“We’re worried that this is following right after March Break when people tend to travel and there’s a lot of social interaction, so we think it would have been more prudent to wait at least a few weeks,” OECTA President Barb Dobrowolski said.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) echoes concerns about the possibility of spiking cases and potential exposure to COVID-19 after the holiday.
“I think the government has taken a gamble here with the health and safety of the province,” OSSTF President Karen Littlewood said.
All three teachers’ unions are telling their members to do what feels safe to them, including wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing.
Some parents outside Markham’s Parkview Public School told CTV News Toronto Wednesday morning they will continue to send their kids to school with masks for now.
“Kids are getting used to it. I don’t really think they’re minding too much anymore so why not take precaution and keep it on a little bit longer,” one father said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.