Manitoba's Top Doc is asking parents to leave the mandate to wear masks in schools in the province's hands.

In Winkler on Tuesday night, parents and children gathered outside the Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) offices to show support for a parent led petition asking for the easing of mandatory mask rules, and the requirement of a doctor's note for a mask exemption. The petition organizers are also asking for the province to change mask mandates in schools based on risk in the province, specifically requesting for the consideration of region specific COVID-19 restrictions based on the Province's RestartMB Pandemic Response System which rates regions on the risk of transmission from LIMITED RISK (green) to CAUTION (yellow), RESTRICTED (orange) and CRITICAL (red).

Currently, all students in Grades 4 and up must wear masks in indoor spaces where they can't physically distance.

Read more: Parent-Led Petition Aims For More Local Choice With COVID-19 School Restrictions

When asked if he believes parents should have the choice to ask their students to wear a mask, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin says people should follow the current guidelines, and not stigmatize those who are not wearing a mask.

"It's not here to stigmatize, or to call out any groups. I think masks have a benefit, and so that is why we have mandated them in schools. We have mandated them in the Winnipeg metropolitan region."

Aware of the group in Winkler, Roussin asked once again for Manitobans to wear masks as per the regulations in schools across Manitoba, and in public spaces in Winnipeg.

"We are all in this together. We know that some people can not wear masks, and so we do not want to stigmatize them, but as a group, Manitobans, I really encourage the vast majority of Manitobans to wear masks when appropriate."

Meanwhile, in an interview with PembinaValleyOnline prior to this week's presentation at the GVSD Board meeting Tuesday night, one of the petition organizers and parent Heather DiFrancesco said it comes down to choice, "Let's show the province we want the choice to wear masks in school, the choice for our children to play sports, the choice to attend school every day for high school students."

"So we're sending a message to the Education Minister, the Health Minister, our MLA's and our government... we are calling for choice in our division," DiFrancesco said.