Societal attitudes in Canada and the U.S. toward wearing masks in public as protection against COVID-19 have undergone an “unprecedented’ shift in just a matter of months, some social psychologists say.
“As somebody who studies social norms, it’s astonishing. It’s like a flip in a blink of an eye in terms of this change,” said Catherine Sanderson, a social psychology professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
“I actually think that’s because of the unprecedented nature of what happened. And so I think what we’ve seen is that this is just an unprecedented time. And that’s something that leads to very, very fast shifts.”
In some East Asian countries, mask wearing has been recommended or required since the start of the pandemic.
It’s already an accepted practice in some countries, including China, South Korea and Japan, to wear masks when one is sick or to protect against infection during cold and flu seasons or to protect against air pollution.
And while the effectiveness of masks continues to be a source of debate within the scientific community, more people are embracing the idea in the U.S. and Canada, a number of surveys reveal.
Health Canada has said homemade masks might reduce the spread of the wearer’s infectious droplets to others but may not provide complete protection against “virus-sized particles,” in part because of variations in the way they fit and the materials people are using to make them and their relative potential to block those particles.
N95 respirators, which are recommended primarily for health-care workers, on the other hand, can protect the wearer against respiratory viruses, such as the novel coronavirus, when they are worn correctly and form a seal around the nose and mouth.
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Surge in Canadians wearing masks
In a two-week period in April, the percentage of Canadians wearing some sort of a protective mask in public rose from one-fifth to one-third, according to an online poll of 2,015 Canadians commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies, a non-profit organization.
Another recent online poll conducted May 6 by DART & Maru/Blue found that 65 per cent of the 1,513 randomly selected Canadians surveyed agreed they must wear a mask or face covering whenever they are outside the home and among other people. And 81 per cent said that a person must wear a mask at all times in barber shops, hair salons and nail salons.
In the United States, polls have also revealed surge-like support for wearing masks.
“It’s fascinating in two months how much behaviour can change and really turn on a dime,” said Toni Schmader, a social psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The U.S.-based online marketplace Etsy says its total sales doubled in April, in large part due to face mask sales. (Etsy)
Not only are individuals opting to wear masks, a growing number of retailers are requiring or requesting shoppers wear a face covering in their stores. And starting Monday, Uber will require all drivers and passengers wear masks.
Meanwhile, stores such as Old Navy and the Disney Store are selling fashion masks. The U.S.-based online marketplace Etsy says its total salesdoubled in April, in large part because of face mask sales, The Verge website reported.
This increased demand for masks is in part likely the result of a number of health officials declaring the importance of wearing masks in public. In the U.S. and Canada, there were two key policy shifts. At the beginning of the pandemic, neither the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor Canada’s chief public health officer, Theresa Tam, had advocated the use of masks in public.
New wisdom on masks
But in early April, the CDC, followed by Tam days later, said that new studies on the subject prompted a shift in mask advice. The agency now recommends the use of face masks in public places where physical distancing is difficult to maintain.
Shortly after the CDC announcement, Gallup found that the percentage of Americans who reported that they had worn a mask outside of their homes has increased from 38 per cent to 62 per cent in just one week.
“Wearing a mask is new. It’s different. It’s not something that most of us have done. But what we also know is that behaviour can change very, very fast under particular circumstances,” Sanderson said.
“What we know is that when there’s clear health evidence, things change very fast.”
About 25 per cent of the population needs to engage in an activity in order for the majority of people to change their behaviour, she said.
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‘Creates the tipping point’
“And that creates the tipping point. So, you don’t need everybody to do it, but you need enough people to do it so you sway it.”
As well, you need particular people doing that new behaviour, she said.
“You really do need role models, whether that’s celebrities or presidents, prime ministers, athletes, actors — you need people who are sort of trend setters, social Influencers, but at a broader level.”
Stores like The Disney Store and Old Navy are responding to consumer demand and selling fashionable masks. (The Disney Store)
Schmader agreed that a significant key in changing behaviour of individuals is having them feel like the norms of people around them support that behaviour.
“Because a lot of times the things that we know are good for us still don’t motivate our own behaviour. Unless we see everyone else doing it.“
She said wearing seatbelts, although mandated by the government, was behaviour that people readily adapted to in a fairly shot period of time.
However, Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, said the poll the association commissioned indicated that fear and anxiety are what’s prompting more people in Canada to wear masks.
“I think health officials encouraging you to wear masks gives it more legitimacy,” he said. “At the same time, I think it’s the degree to which you are fearful of getting the contagion that probably is more of a determining factor.”
If you chose to wear a reusable mask make sure to follow these steps. (CBC)
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
