More Americans than Canadians say wearing a mask in public should be mandatory, poll states

More Americans than Canadians believe it should be mandatory to wear a mask in public, even if that means infringing on an individual’s rights, a poll states. 

The poll conducted by the Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, surveyed approximately 1,523 Canadians (with a margin of error of 2.5 points) and 1,001 Americans (with a margin of error of 3.1 points ) on how they feel about being required to wear a mask in public to protect against the transmission of COVID-19. 

When asked whether being made to wear a mask in public is an infringement of individual rights, 47 per cent of Americans said yes, while 27 per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement. 

However, within the same group, it appears that Americans are more accepting of having their rights infringed than Canadians.

According to the poll, 56 per cent of Americans who said mandatory masks are a rights violation still advocated for masks to be made a requirement in public, while only 35 per cent of Canadians within the group felt the same way. 

Pollster Jack Jedwab said he thought the results would be different.

“I thought that the idea of a rights infringement, which is certainly more of an opinion among Americans, wouldn’t be something Americans would cede on to the extent that they are willing to, given the health emergency,” he said. “I imagined the United States as more of a place to insist on individual rights but not the collective good.”

In fact, when he surveyed respondents on whether masks should be made mandatory in public, regardless of whether its a rights infringement or not, 72 per cent of Americans polled yes, while only 67 per cent of Canadians appeared to agree. 

Jedwab attributed the difference in responses to the difference in the pandemic climate within each country. In the States, where the average number of cases per week ranges between 500 and more than 10,000, people are becoming more vigilant, he said, and wearing a mask is taking on a “greater sense of urgency” — even President Trump has been spotted wearing one.

However in Canada, the situation is significantly less dire — provinces have reported anywhere between 5 and 150 new cases a day — and people are consequently more relaxed.

“Our health emergency is not at the same level,” Jedwab said. However, even though the pandemic climate locally is a lot quieter, Canadians have remained consistent in their approach that “there is a collective right that needs to be protected”.

“If you wear a mask but I don’t, you’re protecting me but I’m not protecting you,” he said. 

In fact, when he polled respondents on whether they would condone police arresting those who refuse to wear masks, 68 per cent of Canadians replied yes, 10 percentage points more than the percentage of Americans who agreed (58 per cent).  The “majority (of Canadians) are supportive of attaching penalties — and not insignificant penalties — regarding mask wearing,” he said. 

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The polling results, he says, reflects a wide change in attitudes within Canadians and Americans toward the pandemic. If the poll was conducted a few months ago, Jedwab said the results received would have been extremely different — from both groups. “I don’t think a lot of Americans would have accepted this earlier in the contagion, and I think a lot of Canadians would have been extremely reluctant as well,” he said. 

As of July 7, several Ontario regions, including Burlington, Waterloo and Toronto  have made it mandatory of residents to wear masks in indoor public places. Quebec has announced that masks or face coverings will also become a requirement to indoor public spaces starting July 18. 

In the United States, 27 states have made it mandatory to wear masks either in all indoor public spaces or certain spaces such as stores, restaurants and/or public transit.

Is wearing a mask in public still up for debate anymore? In principle, no, Jedwab said. “The mask requirement has become more and more mainstream, “ he said. However in practice, he said it would still take some moral persuasion to convince the minority to do so. “It’s going to be hard for us to police this. But a lot of laws are also about the messages … being sent by virtue of adopting the message.”