The face of northeastern Ontario: Businesses setting their own rules with lifting of mask mandates

Sitting in the chair at the Valley Plaza Barber Shop, Shawn Robichaud has a smirk on his face.

This is the first time in two years the Capreol man has gotten his haircut without wearing a mask, with the lifting of provincewide mandates on March 21.

But Robichaud says the barber shop in the Hanmer area of Greater Sudbury was the only place he has worn a mask since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If I had to go somewhere else, I took my business somewhere else," he said, adding he made an exception for the barber shop because a good hairdresser is harder to find. 

"My heart goes out to everybody, mask, no mask, vaccinated, unvaccinated. Nice to see things are coming to some kind of normalcy."

A few chairs over, barber Claude Chenier, who has cut hair at the shop in the Hanmer mall for 41 years, is wearing a mask. 

"Just to protect people for a few weeks and then probably take it off," said the 58-year-old.

Barber shop owner Debbie Blacklock said that if the customer is wearing a mask, she'll put one on, but if they're not, she'll go without as well.

She says after two tough financial years and a very lean spring, she doesn't want to scare off any business. 

"I didn't think we were going to make it, it was that bad and can't afford to not have nobody come in or anybody be scared," Blacklock said. 

Other local businesses are setting different masking rules. 

At The Pantry Bulk Food Store and Market Eatery in New Liskeard, customers are asked to wear masks, but no one is turned away.

Owner Penny Durrant said they usually only get about two per day who come in with their faces uncovered. 

She credits that to rising COVID-19 activity in the Temiskaming district in recent weeks, where many have been kept home with mild symptoms, including herself. 

"Everybody knows at least five people at home," Durrant said.

"[Earlier in the pandemic] it was a little bit harder to feel what's going on, but now that it's really common... it's more of an accepted thing,"

She admitted that while she would rather see them wearing masks, she has enjoyed seeing a few uncovered faces in the past week. 

"Someone would come in who I know really well, but I wouldn't even recognize who they were, so it's really nice to actually see a smiling face, I'd just like to see them outside on the sidewalk."

At the Anipeg Tattoo studio in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, you still can't get in without wearing a mask. 

Owner Shelayne Adcock said she made the decision to protect her immunocompromised staff, including herself.

She said customers have been understanding, but she has been attacked by a "couple of trolls online."

"I can't stop everybody from being a jerk, we just have to do what's best for us and best for our customers," said Adcock. 

"And I can't work if I'm dead."

Wearing a mask has also now become a personal choice in elementary and secondary schools across the province.

Rick Belisle, who represents unionized English Catholic high school teachers in the North Bay area, said you see covered and uncovered faces in the hallways and "social pressure" plays a big factor in when and wear students and teachers decide to mask up. 

"If you choose not to, I haven't heard any negative things where people are being bullied to ditch the mask," said Belisle. 

"There's a lot of hesitation because our lives have been turned upside down for two years."