Maybe because it was a red-eye and everyone's nerves are getting frayed with everything COVID. Western Canada has a very low acceptance rate of mask-wearing. I can count on one hand how many people I see wearing masks in and around the Calgary area outside of the airport. It makes sense that suddenly they see a situation where someone is being forced to wear one, and tensions increase. Would you then want to fly 3 1/2 hours with people who are already not listening to you before push back? Yes, the crew is paid to deal with a lot, but not when a boatload of the paying pax is mutinying against you, right, wrong, or indifferent.
There are a few things I see play into this:
1. Pass travel. Everyone knows (or should know) you don't say boo when travelling on passes. I'm not condoning any actions on either side, but if you're asked to do something on passes, you do it, no questions asked. I have the impression this family may have had an entitlement issue, and didn't fully understand what was expected of them. I wonder if the pass holder knew ahead of time the father had gone to the media. I'd say not because there are not too many other benefits of working for one of Canada's airlines.
2. Speaking of the story, videos never tell the whole of it. How long did it take them to comply with the mask policy and before the video started rolling? I've given a lot of rope in the last few months with TC's rules regarding masks, but a couple of times now the person who was just calling one of my FA's a "F'ing this" or "a stupid B that" acts as though they're the second coming of Christ when the police show up. It's a transformation worthy of its own TLC show.
3. As far as leeway with TC is concerned, there is none. TC is coming down hard on this mask policy and save for the medical exemptions and kids under 2, there is only one policy - wear the damned thing unless you're eating or drinking. Once TC makes a rule like this, there is no grey area. Case in point, A buddy of mine had to kick a person off for refusing to wear a mask the other day. My buddy got a call from TC the next afternoon asking for details. You couldn't get that level of service from TC if you bribed the whole department. So this is taken very seriously and they're making examples of people. If they're doing that to paying passengers, imagine the repercussions if Air Canada or WestJet failed to follow the rule.
4. Companies can always handle a situation better. But WestJet is one that really needs to learn how to fall on its sword, even if they're in the right. That always makes the story go away quicker. Regardless, even if they handled this like saints, all airlines are under the microscope right now and they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't. Had they let the family continue on the flight, it's just as likely someone would have made a stink for them not wearing a mask. And then TC would have fined the airline. Airlines can't win.
There has to be more to this.