BC Liberal Health Critic Renee Merrifield presented a petition in the legislature yesterday that claims wearing masks in schools “causes irreversible damage, emotionally, mentally, and physically to children.” (Petition)
When introducing the petition, Merrifield said “the organization has an intention not to divide people, instead they simply want parents, children, people of B.C. to be able to retain their autonomous rights.”
The group Unmask Our Kids says that the mask mandate in schools “infringes on parental and children’s rights.” Statements from signatories compare mask wearing to child abuse and repeat debunked claims that masks cause lung cancer and trauma from carbon dioxide consumption.
Since becoming Health Critic, Merrifield has directly undermined public health advice on at least three other occasions:
- In December she apologized to Dr. Bonnie Henry after liking tweets that suggested children in BC are being “used” by public health officials to develop herd immunity, and that officials “want them to become infected.”
- In April she falsely claimed vitamin D will “help fight off COVID-19.”
- In January she opposed Dr. Henry’s decision to extend the second dose interval and accused her of spreading “false information” about the effectiveness of first doses.
BC NDP MLA Andrew Mercier:
“On multiple occasions, the BC Liberals lead spokesperson for health has undermined public health advice and the science behind it. Instead of working together to keep people safe, she has repeatedly chosen to amplify dangerous misinformation.”