An Open Letter to Alberta MLAs and Health Officials
Download a copy of the letter to send to your MLA at the bottom of this page.
Dear MLAs and Health Officials,
As your constituent, I am demanding that you immediately take the following actions, and/or that you insist that those who have the power to take these actions, do so:
- Remove all mask mandates for those under 20 years of age.
- Update all government messaging to reflect the science on masks, including the science on their effectiveness as well as their safety.
- Put in place mandates prohibiting municipal governments, educational, sport, or other organizations (or individuals) from requiring masks on those under 20 years of age, under any circumstances.
With respect to the first action, there are five reasons that children/youth should never be required to cover their mouth/nose as a response to this (or any similar) respiratory virus.
- First, it has been shown that children/youth are at near zero risk from the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Alberta Health – see Figure 11 and Table 3, Government of Canada – see Figure 5, Bhopal et al., Dong et al.).
- Second, it has been shown that children/youth are not significant spreaders of the virus (Brandal et al., Ludvigsson et al., Heavey et al., Rajmil).
- Third, the weight of scientific evidence clearly shows that masks are ineffective against respiratory viruses in general (Jefferson et al., Xiao et al., bin-Reza et al., Hayes 2015, Kaplan 2018), and SARS-CoV-2 in particular (Bundgaard et al.), and there is evidence that they (cloth and medical masks) may actually increase the risk of infection (MacIntyre et al., Cowling et al.).
- Fourth, children need exposure to viruses, bacteria, and other microbials in order to properly develop their immune systems (Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Olszak et al., Roslund et al., Ege et al., Casas et al.).
- Finally, and most importantly, there is now mounting evidence of physical, psychological, and spiritual harms to children from covering their mouth and nose – including consequences from a lack of oxygen (such as headaches, fatigue, dizziness, impaired learning, reduced cognitive function, and exacerbations of specific physical conditions), dermatological and dental issues, impaired communication, increased fear and anxiety, decreased happiness, reduced sense of belonging, increased depression, social withdrawal, and even reports of death – some of which are magnified when such coverings are worn for prolonged periods or during exertion (Alexander, Rancourt, Schwarz et al., Fikenzer et al., Louhevaara, That’s GBA, Reaume, Kisielinski et al.).
In regards to the second action, while your government has quietly stopped broadcasting the false claim that masks protect the wearer and/or those around them from the virus, you have not made it clear to the public why you have done so, and you continue to promote mask-wearing despite the substantial scientific evidence and data against it. This must stop. The science is clear (as indicated above), and you are responsible for correcting the message that you promoted for so many months. It is not enough to remove the mask mandates along with the other restrictions, after certain conditions have been met or time has passed. You must be transparent, admit your error, and act now in order to prevent any further damage and let our children/youth begin to heal.
Finally, due to your months of relentless messaging indicating that masks are ‘safe and effective’ – that they protect the wearer and those around them from the virus – despite substantial evidence to the contrary, many individuals and organizations have gone beyond the mandates and are requiring that children and youth wear masks even in situations where they are not required to do so under your health orders. Many teachers/educators are requiring them to be worn throughout the day, even for children in the youngest age groups, and some are actually requiring or encouraging them to be worn outside and during physical activity.
Similarly, some sports organizations are requiring children/youth to wear masks while training and competing. These requirements present serious risks and while you may claim that you are not at fault for the resulting harm, unless you do something to rectify the false message that you consistently promoted for many months, the fault most certainly lies with you. At this point, the only action that will save our children/youth from further harm is to prohibit these individuals and organizations from taking it upon themselves to implement such restrictions.
As your constituent, I am demanding that you take these actions to protect the children and youth immediately and I will consider legal action if you refuse. While it is dishonourable to continue with ineffective and harmful measures against the population as a whole, it is unconscionable to do so against our children and youth.
Respectfully,
Your Constituent
Download a copy of the letter to sign and send to your MLA here:
Unmask Our Children and Youth – pdf
Unmask Our Children and Youth – doc
Masking Truth 