Alberta’s new premier bans mask mandates from returning to schools
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‘The detrimental effects of masking on the mental health, development, and education of children in classroom settings is well understood…’
(LifeSiteNews) – The new premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, has banned the introduction of any further masking mandates in the province’s K-12 schools.
“The detrimental effects of masking on the mental health, development, and education of children in classroom settings is well understood, and we must turn the page on what has been an extremely difficult time for children, along with their parents and teachers,” said Smith in a statement announcing the new policy Saturday.
Smith’s mask mandate ban came about in response to a recent Alberta Court of King’s Bench ruling which stated that the removal of mask mandates in Alberta schools by the province’s Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange earlier in the year was “unreasonable.”
In February of this year, LaGrange banned all Alberta school boards from enacting face mask requirements for students. This was around the same time then-Premier Jason Kenney scrapped the province’s vaccine passport system as the Freedom Convoy’s popularity was rising.