Another confrontation involving a person refusing to wear a mask on public transit in B.C. has been posted to social media.
In the video, a man can be seen refusing to wear a mask or get off the 401 Richmond bus.
“If you want to wear it, wear it,” he can be seen telling the bus driver. “Mind your own business.”
When all the other passengers eventually have to get off and wait outside, the man says to the driver, “I don’t care, stay home, all of them.”
The passenger goes on to say he has been on three other buses that day and was not asked to wear a mask on any of them.
Transit police told Global News the man’s disregard for public safety is very concerning.
“Thankfully, the vast majority of people using public transit are abiding by the order and are wearing masks but unfortunately we do come across situations like this where you have that small group of people who just plain out refuse to wear a mask,” a spokesperson said.
Anyone refusing to wear a mask on transit could face a fine of up to $115.
“Bus operators are not expected to enforce the policy,” TransLink said in statement, “but are able to remind customers that masks are mandatory. Bus operators should call transit police if they feel unsafe for any reason, or call 911 in an emergency.”
The union representing Lower Mainland bus drivers is calling for more security.
Western regional director of Unifor Gavin McGarrigle called the incident “disgraceful.”
“We’ve said when you change from masks to no masks or vice versa and there’s some type of significant change, a little bit of a blitz of extra security is what’s needed,” he said.
It’s not known if this bus passenger received a fine.
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