The mayor of St. Clair Township says he's one of many people who can't wear a medical face mask for extended periods of time.
During Monday's town council meeting, Steve Arnold remarked how he wouldn't be able to attend an upcoming Remembrance Day awards banquet because of masking requirements.
"There is no way I can wear a mask for three-and-a-half hours," said Arnold via Zoom. "So, I'm looking for someone to take my place at the [Corunna] Legion that night."
Councillor Pat Brown agreed to go in the mayor's stead, however, the event had already been cancelled for a second straight year. Arnold later told SarniaNewsToday that the confusion could have been caused by an invitation glitch.
Arnold said that while council has always supported masking, especially the voluntary piece of it, he himself can't get enough air through a mask for a length of time.
"I'm usually good for about 15 minutes to a half-hour and then I have to get a good gulp of fresh air into my lungs. I think some of it's my age, maybe a touch of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), those types of things, and it's just one of those things that is very difficult for me to do."
Arnold said he wears a mask whenever he's required to out of respect for others.
"For me personally, I just don't go places where I'm inside, and that includes the township office. I respect our employees so much that I don't want to take a chance of either infecting them or possibly getting infected myself, and then knowing that the mask issue is a thing for me that I have to deal with."
Arnold said most of the meetings he's had have either been on the phone, on Zoom or socially distanced outdoors. He added that it's about being able to adapt.
"We as people in society, we're trying to beat this whole virus thing. For me, I'll do whatever it takes to get it over the hump and help out the rest of our folks to make sure everybody stays healthy."
Arnold was asked if he's considered looking into getting a mask exemption.
"No, I wouldn't do that. For me personally, I believe that I can work around it. I respect the people around me enough that I want to make sure that I conform the best I can, and if that helps others be influenced in a positive way to do what needs to be done, then it's been a good thing too."
In August 2020, St. Clair Township voted 4-3 against legislating the wearing of face coverings in indoor public spaces -- Arnold was the deciding vote.
"I felt very strongly that people should have a choice, and there are people, many people like myself, that you just can't wear one for extended periods of time. And then the other piece is, how do you make sure that you don't contaminate yourself when you are dawning or removing a mask?"
Arnold said he's always been concerned that masking would lead to more issues than less if people aren't putting on and taking off masks in the right way.
