With Alberta kindergarten to Grade 12 students returning to schools last week without a masking mandate, and with the proof of vaccination Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) now scrapped, the province is entering a critical new phase in the pandemic saga.
Whether Premier Jason Kenney and his fellow UCP MLAs will come to regret the decision to start doing away with the measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 remains to be seen.
What is known is that by pushing ahead with the plan to, as the premier has said, “safely return to normal”, the government is making major new decisions impacting the health and well-being of Albertans of all ages.
For his part, the premier says Albertans should trust his good judgment and follow his leadership.
“The last two years have taken a significant toll on Albertans’ overall health, social and economic well-being,” Kenney said in announcing the end of student masking. “It’s time to shift to a balanced approach where we are able to live with COVID-19 and return to normal.”
With the decision to end masking in schools having been made without much consultation with teachers, it’s hardly surprising that educators have raised concerns about doing away with the mandatory masking policy.
“We urge the government to take a more cautious approach regarding the safety protocols in schools,” said Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling. “Once again, the government has made a decision without consulting educational stakeholders, including the association and school boards.
"Consulting those working every day in schools was the bare minimum the government should have done. They didn’t.”
Why the premier and his cabinet colleagues would not have considered it absolutely vital to have the backing and support of educators on an issue as fundamentally important as the health and well-being of Alberta students remains an open question.
Perhaps UCP MLAs have deemed it more important to quickly move forward with their plans rather than face possible delays caused by the concerns of teachers in schools?
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
