Photo: Facebook

A B.C. MP is being called out as reckless after she posted a photo of herself interacting with seniors at Port Moody’s Legion without a mask on. 

Port Moody-Coquitlam MP Nelly Shin posted the photo on June 25. Since then, locals have expressed frustration at the lack of precautions. 

“Things have certainly changed since the federal election in 2019. I remember politicians visiting my mom’s retirement home in Port Coquitlam, no masks, no physical distancing, lots of handshakes,” wrote Port Coquitlam resident Gale Dowle in a email. 

“That was then, this is now.” 

Dowle, whose mother lived in a nursing home connected to the Port Coquitlam Legion, said she removed her mother early in the COVID-19 pandemic after the Legion was slow to close.

When she recently discovered the photo of Shin in close quarters with another senior at the nearby Legion, she said “it made my heart skip a beat. That could be my parent she might be carelessly infecting.”

However, the photo of the unmasked Shin was cross-posted as part of a gallery showing the MP distributing masks in the community. In several of the photos, Shin is pictured wearing a mask.

“The masks were shipped to Canada by generous Hong Kong donors who wanted to support Canada's PPE shortage,” it reads. “Thank you MP Kenny Chiu for sending some to our veterans community.”

Distributing masks is one thing, but wearing them is another, and Dowle said she’s concerned MPs' travel between Ottawa and their ridings create a heightened risk.

“She was there to attend Parliament this week. I think it is fair to inquire from any MP during this time of essential travel only, how much travel they are in fact doing, especially if they are going to be exposing the community to unnecessary risks,” wrote Dowle.

Earlier this week, photos of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer circulated online showing the bare-faced party leader in a waiting area at Toronto’s Pearson airport.

Scheer and other party leaders have been wearing masks around Parliament Hill, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also been seen wearing them during photo ops.