Yorkton Chamber of Commerce President Mike Stackhouse is coming under fire for public skepticism about the effectiveness of masks and COVID-19 precautions.
The reaction comes after a post Stackhouse made to his blog, Stackhouse Soapbox, where he argued against mandatory masks, which he posted on Sept 28, after an outbreak had occurred in Yorkton. This is one of several similar posts Stackhouse has made about the subject over the past few months. Health policy services consultant Dennis Kendel, argued on Twitter that community leaders have an ethical responsibility to support optimal public protection measures or resign from leadership roles.
The Yorkton Chamber of Commerce has said in a release that Stackhouse鈥檚 personal views do not represent those of the Chamber of Commerce.
鈥淭he board of directors of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce is aware that a number of people have taken exception to recent statements about the pandemic made by Mike Stackhouse, president of the chamber,鈥� said the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce in a release.
鈥淭he statements made by Mr. Stackhouse appeared on his personal social media accounts, not those of the chamber. The personal comments and views of Mr. Stackhouse are not those of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce.鈥�
Stackhouse has set his social media accounts to private in the wake of the backlash, though the post that sparked the controversy - as well as several previous, similar posts聽 - remain on his website (stackhousesoapbox.wordpress.com)
