1000+ signatures, announcement on masking at 12:30 PM

To the many of you who have signed since my earlier updates, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for standing up with us to defend public transit riders.

It has been revealed that today's announcement by Dr. Henry and Minister Dix on COVID-19 measures will be occurring at 12:30 PM. An announcement on lifting measures today does not necessarily mean that measures will be lifted today, so if a transit-specific mask requirement continuation is not part of today's announcements, then we will have until the day the measures are lifted to continue to push for it.

I've now had the opportunity to speak to City, OMNI Filipino, and CBC's The Early Edition about this petition. During my interview with CBC I found out that TransLink's CEO Kevin Quinn offered comment on the matter, stating that they would look to Dr. Henry's advice first and then go from there.

It would be possible for TransLink and BC Transit to instate their own masking requirements on public transit outside of a provincial health order, as was the case in 2020. However, a recommendation coming from Dr. Henry herself to keep the masking requirements for now on settings such as public transit would be much more powerful.

Again, please keep SHARING the petition by posting on Twitter, Facebook, Discord, Reddit, etc. and getting your family members and friends to sign. The more people that sign, the more likely we will be able to get the attention of B.C.'s public health leaders.

If you are also concerned about the upcoming changes to mandatory mask rules in all other public settings, I highly recommend you check out other petitions such as Safe Schools Coalition B.C.'s petition for continued masking in schools.

—Daryl