Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 16, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 Women’s Fashion and Footwear Boutique SIZES 0-14 • SELECTION & SERVICE www.girlcandyshop.com 918 Grosvenor Ave. • 204.975.4605 TUES-FRI 10-6, SAT 10-5 WHISPER BY BRODIE New, lightweight, silk-cotton blend sweaters for spring. BUY NOW, WEAR NOW *2018 Kia Forte* 2018 Nissan Rogue* 2013 GMC Terrain* 2013 Ford Escape* 2013 Dodge Journey*2013 Ford Fusion* 2012 Ford Focus* 2012 Mazda 3* 2011 Chevrolet Equinox*2011 Nissan Altima* 2011 Ford Expedition* 2011 Audi A5* 2010 Lincoln Navigator* 2010 Honda Genesis* 2010 Ford Escape* 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt* 2009 Acura TSX*2009 Mazda 6* 2008 Volkswagen Jetta*2007 GMC Canyon* 2005 Cadillac SRX*2004 Chevrolet Avalanche* 2002 Chevrolet Silverado* 2000 Dodge Ram * plus approx. 40 other vehicles* GO TO: www.kayesauctions.com TO VIEW & BID ONLINE UNRESERVED ONLINE VEHICLE AUCTION SALE “UNDER THE GARAGE KEEPERS ACT” For Tartan Towing Bidding starts Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. and closes Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. Viewing: Monday, Mar. 21st from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Viewing location: 1425 Brookside Blvd. S. Terms: Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Debit & e-transfer Paid in Full Buyers Fee: $30.00 flat fee per vehicle “Subject to Additions & Deletions” Everything Sold As Is, Where Is With no warranties implied or expressed. KAYE’S AUCTIONS 204-668-0183 (Wpg) www.kayesauctions.com Though all description and commentary are believed to be correct, neither Auctioneer nor Consignor makes any warranties or representations of any kind with respect to the property, and in no event shall be held responsible for having made or implied any warranty of description, genuineness, authorship, attribution, provenance, period, culture, source, origin, condition, etc. Notice is hereby given, that In order to Satisfy outstanding Towing & Storage charges under authority of “The Garage Keepers Act” of Manitoba, the following units & others will be sold by Unreserved Online Public Auction. All vehicles are sold “As Is, Where Is” with No Guarantee as to year or Condition. Serial Number & Year are only a guideline. “They’re not necessarily always correct.” ***NOTE*** It’s up to the purchaser to check out the status of the vehicle(s). Everything Sold “AS IS, WHERE IS”. Donate today at varietymanitoba.com Help take kids off our waitlist. COVID-19 PANDEMIC ASSOCIATE EDITOR NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A3 WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2022 WINKLER — It wasn’t just the warmer weather putting smiles on diners’ faces at Del Rios restaurant Tuesday after- noon. For the first time in a long time, din- ers were permitted to mingle inside the restaurant without masks, after the province lifted the last of its pandemic public health orders Tuesday. And customers and staff took full ad- vantage; not one wore a face covering. Helena Wall, who was having lunch at the Mexican restaurant, said she hopes the end of pandemic restrictions will help bridge the divide in the southern Manitoba community, where vaccina- tion rates are among the lowest in the province. “It feels like we’ve got some sort of freedom back, and that’s amazing,” she said. “That’s what we’ve been asking for.” Wall, who isn’t vaccinated and has lost several family members to COVID-19, said she believes people who continue to wear masks are living in fear. “That saddens me, and that’s where the divide is, right? Now you will see the divide of people still believing,” Wall said. A husband and wife, who didn’t want to be named, said it’s time for the com- munity to move on. “It’s a change of seasons,” said the husband. “It’s great. Everyone’s happy, we were all chatting,” added his wife. Both contracted COVID-19 last year, calling it “no big deal.” “Most of this community’s gotten it, gotten past it, and I think are all better for it,” the husband said. At the Superstore in Winkler, only a handful of shoppers were masked. Two employees who spoke to the Free Press said many customers didn’t mask up while the mandate was in effect. One of the workers was masked, while the other said she’d regretted going without. They believe the province moved too quickly in dropping the mandate. However, they hope the removal of pandemic restrictions will put an end to some of the altercations between cus- tomers, staff and those handing out pan- demic fines. “There’s way less stress from cus- tomers, but I have the very firm opinion that everyone’s going to be sick by Eas- ter,” one said. At a nearby Tim Hortons, Nolan Turn- bull ordered his coffee and snack while wearing a medical grade mask. He has followed public health orders since Day 1 of the pandemic and got vaccinated as soon as possible. “I just hope that people are able to be safe moving forward,” he said. Turnbull, who works in health care, said his decision to wear a mask wasn’t exactly embraced by some members of the community, but he’ll continue to wear it until he feels safe without it. “When the mask mandates came around, there was certain businesses in certain areas where people would gawk at you and do whatever else for wearing one and that’ll continue too, but I don’t care,” he said. “I care about other peo- ple.” malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Winkler residents celebrate getting ‘freedom back’ MALAK ABAS W HILE many Winnipeggers ap-peared to take a cautious ap-proach as Manitoba’s last re- maining COVID-19 restrictions ended Tuesday, some who happily took off their face masks welcomed the so- called “new normal.” The indoor mask mandate, the self-iso- lation requirement for people who test positive and northern Manitoba travel restrictions were scrapped weeks after the province ditched vaccine cards, ca- pacity limits and other rules aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Masked shoppers outnumbered the unmasked at city businesses visited by the Free Press, as Manitoba became free of public-health orders despite con- cerns raised by doctors and immuno- compromised people. Even though restrictions have ended, Whodunit Mystery Bookstore (163 Lilac St.) is requiring all staff and customers to wear masks. “We are not, for the foreseeable fu- ture, having anybody without a mask in our store,” said owner Wendy Bum- stead. “We don’t want people to become infected.” Bumstead said the store may lift the rule when Manitoba’s infection rate is lower. MasksMB.com lists businesses re- quiring customers and staff to cover their faces. As of Tuesday afternoon there were more than 20 names on the list, said Winnipegger Kerri MacKay, who runs the website. Although masks are now optional for customers at Bagelsmith Winnipeg (185 Carlton St.), owner Phil Klein and his staff will continue to wear them. “I just figured this was the path of least resistance,” said Klein, adding en- forcing the mandate was an exhausting challenge for staff. When a previous provincial mandate ended in August, Klein decided to main- tain a mandatory mask policy. Before long, he was getting hate-filled emails and social media messages. He’s taking a different approach this time after gauging what other business- es were planning to do and considering the vaccination rate, which is much higher than it was last summer. Within a few hours of opening Tues- day, every customer who walked into the shop had a mask on. But Klein ex- pects to see more maskless customers in the weeks ahead. “I imagine it will take some time be- fore people feel comfortable removing them,” he said. Chuck Davidson, president and CEO of Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said he expects a 50-50 split when it comes to businesses with some sort of mask policy for customers and/or em- ployees. He urged Manitobans to be respectful of each other. At CF Polo Park, shopper Melody My- ers, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, was among those who went mask- less. “Now that I’m alive and cancer-free, I’m going to celebrate every second of it, including not wearing a mask,” she said. “They don’t seem to be all that bothered by (me) not wearing a mask. I think it makes people feel a little bit normal.” Myers is happy to have the ability to choose whether to wear a mask. She hopes Manitobans will continue to take precautions such as handwashing or staying home when they feel ill now that the mandate, which was reimposed Sept. 3, is gone. Carrying multiple shopping bags and wearing a winter jacket, Kristen Schul- tz said she took her mask off because she was feeling hot. At times, she was wearing it around her chin. “I went into one store and the employ- ee stepped back, so I thought, ‘OK, I’ll put it up,” said Schultz. “Ultimately, if you want to wear it, wear it. If you don’t, don’t. I’m thankful it’s back in the hands of people to make the decision for them- selves.” Cora Hanson, who took her mask off to sip from a drink while shopping with her husband, Logan, two-year-old son Kayden and one-year-old daughter Amelia, said she will continue to wear a mask in crowded places. Seeing shoppers’ faces and a restric- tion-free CF Polo Park was, to say the least, an unusual experience. “It’s like a flashback,” Hanson said. “Everything looks like it did before the pandemic.” Illona Cicansky went maskless as she strolled through the mall with her hus- band, Bill, who was wearing one. The Winkler couple didn’t know what to ex- pect when they arrived. “I have a bit of a lung condition, and I don’t breathe real well (with one),” said Illona. Most shoppers emerging from the Real Canadian Superstore at Sargent Avenue and St. James Street had masks on, including health-care worker Myra Rosario, who said she has no way of knowing if the person next to her is vac- cinated or infected with the virus. “I will not take my mask off,” she said. While optional in most retail settings, masks continue to be mandatory at hos- pitals, doctors’ offices and other health- care facilities in the province. They are optional at city facilities. Winnipeg Transit riders aren’t re- quired to wear masks, but face cover- ings are still mandatory for drivers and other city employees. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 president Romeo Ignacio expect- ed pushback from the majority of bus drivers who want the option to take off their masks. He said at least three union members were sent home after refusing to wear one on the job Tuesday. Ignacio said the policy is “unreason- able,” and the union is considering fil- ing a grievance amid ongoing talks with management. A Winnipeg Transit spokeswoman said a “very small number” of employ- ees decided not to comply with the city mandate and chose to go home rather than put on a mask. At the Manitoba legislature, mem- bers of the Progressive Conservative government largely ditched their face coverings in the chamber Tuesday. During question period, just five of the assembled Tory MLAs wore masks: Kildonan-River East MLA Cathy Cox, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, Natural Resources and Northern Devel- opment Minister Scott Fielding, Labour Minister Reg Helwer and McPhillips MLA Shannon Martin. Most New Democrats in the chamber wore masks, as did the three Liberal MLAs in the house. Prior to Tuesday, MLAs were required to wear face coverings while moving around the chamber and through the Legislative Building but could remove them while seated at their desks. Health Minister Audrey Gordon said going forward she will don a mask based on a personal risk assessment, as recommended by chief provincial pub- lic health officer Dr. Brent Roussin. “Today in the legislature and in the chamber I have not worn one because I’ve assessed my risk level to be low and I will continue to do that in all the envi- ronments that I visit or that I’m present at,” Gordon said. — with files from Danielle Da Silva chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Mandate over, but many masks stay on CHRIS KITCHING Some Winnipeggers quick to embrace freedom to uncover their faces, others not ready to gamble on pandemic’s end ‘Path of least resistance’: Bagelsmith owner Phil Klein’s staff continue to wear masks. JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Melody Myers was happy to celebrate being cancer-free, ‘including not wearing a mask’ during a Polo Park shopping excursion. Health-care worker Myra Rosario says ‘I will not take my mask off.’ ● PREPARING FOR COVID SPIKE / B2 wo 20 be A_03_Mar-16-22_FP_01.indd 3 2022-03-15 10:20 PM ;