No to Mandatory Vaccinations

Plus the New Year's Levee, the Ethics Committee is recalled to investigate PHAC's misuse of Canadians' private data, and condemning the protests at Mayor Gondek's home

No to Mandatory Vaccinations

“We’re not a country that makes vaccination mandatory.” Prime Minister Trudeau said this in May 2021 and repeated that same sentiment several times before the federal election. Since then, the Liberal government has made mandatory vaccinations a wedge issue for the public service, the boarding of domestic flights and trains, and for cross-border truckers. Earlier this January, federal health minister Duclos floated the idea of provinces enforcing mandatory vaccinations and suggested that a debate should be had in their jurisdictions. As a cabinet minister managing the ongoing coronavirus response, Duclos should not be sowing further discord and pitching new divisive debates. There is no way for the federal government to force a mandatory vaccination regime in Canada without provincial acceptance, and this is just one of many moments of distractions and divisive politics from the federal Liberals. It comes a week after Trudeau added insults to his politicking by calling unvaccinated Canadian misogynists and racists. All of it is part of the Liberal government’s goal to avoid accountability and further inspection of their policy decisions by a shifting of the goalposts. As the debate changes, the past failures of this government to get the pandemic under control are forgotten. Let’s take a look at some, and I will offer my perspective on why a mandatory vaccination regime is a bad idea given all the information we now know.

Canada announced a mandatory vaccine mandate for air travel in August 2021 and it was enacted domestically by November 2021. The rationale was that it would reduce the spread of COVID-19. This was on top of the mandatory PCR testing for inbound international travelers that started on January 7, 2021. The latter policy decision was broadly unpopular with constituents as it caused many missed flights, greatly increased costs, and confusion at the border. None of these decisions stopped the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that came from overseas. In fact, by the time the federal government was introducing tougher measures and re-introducing the PCR border test requirement for short trips after briefly canceling it, Omicron had spread far and wide throughout Canada.  The New England Journal of Medicine's study of the variant found that it had the ability to bypass vaccine protections (link). Thus, it seems clear that none of these border rules made an impact on ending the pandemic for Canadians. Likewise, the various vaccine passports or vaccine mandates introduced across different provincial jurisdictions also do not seem to have stemmed the spread of the virus. Finally appearing to recognize these issues, this week the federal Liberal government partially abandoned its publicly announced vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers who have been dutifully working bringing goods across the border keeping our grocery shelves stocked and stores full of the essential goods we needed. The trucker vaccine mandate will now only apply to American truckers crossing our border. They made this partial concession after mounting public pressure from Conservative MPs, trade associations, and the repeat warning that tens of thousands of truckers would be excluded by this decision. It was more public policy guesswork out of Ottawa, as the government believes that mandatory vaccinations are all they must think about. 

Forcing vaccines on people also changes the debate. It no longer becomes about whether vaccines are effective and safe, which they are, but about whether the government can force you to do something you have chosen not to do. They should not and cannot. In a free and democratic country like ours, there must be space for dissent and disagreement even for unpopular minorities. It is absurd paternalism that says that because something is good for someone that it should be forced upon them. The news that the Quebec government is now proposing to introduce what amounts to a tax or fee for the unvaccinated is beyond troubling. This isn’t evidence-based policymaking. The Quebec government tried something similar last year when they introduced a vaccine mandate on all its health workers and was forced to backtrack when it became apparent that up to 10,000 healthcare workers could be missing from their health system. Since then, thousands of jobs are going unfilled as health workers call in sick, go on stress leave, or quit. A tax or fee on the unvaccinated is an awful idea, targeting an unpopular minority for the sake of being seen to be doing “something” about a pandemic that continues in yet another wave. In Alberta, the issue of the provincial government mandating a vaccine to every resident was addressed by the provincial legislature in the past year, which amended the Public Health Act to specifically remove mandatory vaccinations from the law. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also reiterated on January 7th in response to minister Duclos that Alberta would not make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory. Quebecers will be going to the polls this year in a provincial election and can pass judgment on their provincial government – as it should be. It’s not for the federal government to intervene here either. Just as Alberta has decided to surrender the power to force vaccinations on residents, so then can the Quebec government announce one despite how ineffective and divisive that idea will be.

Canada's vaccination numbers also speak for themselves. We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world at 78% of the population with two doses, a figure that is slowly rising. If you consider one-dose partially vaccinated people, we are at 84%. From the publicly available data, we rank 7th in the world, behind countries like Singapore, Cuba, and the People’s Republic of China. I myself am vaccinated and still believe it is the best personal health decision you can make to reduce the likelihood of ending up in the hospital or the ICU. I am satisfied with all the data and evidence I have read that the vaccines are safe, including the mRNA and viral vector vaccines. There is no denying that Omicron is stressing the healthcare system again and further stretching the limited resources our provincial public healthcare systems have available, but it is important to note that the hospitals are filled with the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. In Ontario, as of January 11th, there were 278 Ontarians in ICU with 123 unvaccinated, 137 fully vaccinated and 18 partially vaccinated. Still looking at Ontario figures, hospitalizations follow a similar path with more fully vaccinated Ontarians than unvaccinated in the hospitals. In Alberta, over the past 120 days, ICU admissions of the unvaccinated were at 968 versus 173 fully vaccinated being admitted. This is not a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

It has now been nearly two years since the pandemic officially started. Canadians have been patient with their governments. We’ve all accepted limits and restrictions on our liberties to do our civic duty, but the federal government has failed to ensure the conditions to ease the need for health restrictions. Where is the additional PPE manufacturing capacity? Where is the additional surge capacity for ICU beds and more resources for the provinces to train new staff and upgrade the skills of current healthcare workers so they can take on new roles when needed? How many ICU beds did the $600 billion in pandemic spending get us? Like Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has said, we want to see an end to lockdowns, restrictions to our liberties and stem the growing mental health impact on our society.

So, to health minister Duclos, no, you cannot start the debate on mandatory vaccinations for every Canadian when you have not done the minimum expected by citizens. Canadians have done their part already, now do yours and put a stop to the divisive politics and scapegoating. No to mandatory vaccination and no to taxing or levying fines for those who refuse to vaccinate.

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Ethics Committee recalled to investigate PHAC’s collection of mobile data

In recent weeks, media reports were confirmed by the federal government that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) had “collected and used mobility data” of Canadians over the course of the pandemic, collecting data from up to 33 million phones across the country. To make matters worse, PHAC has solicited proposals to maintain the program for an additional five years, with no specific reason for doing so. This is an abject invasion of Canadian’s right to privacy. Conservative MPs subsequently called upon the Ethics Committee to investigate the extent of the program and Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has confirmed he is looking into the program to determine if the Public Health Agency had implemented proper safeguards to ensure the privacy of Canadians was not breached. Conservatives will continue pressing for answers.

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New Years Levee

Thanks to everyone who braved the frigid cold this past weekend for my New Year's Levée. It was a pleasure to speak to constituents and hear their concerns and feedback as Parliament resumes this month. A sincere thank you to MLA Tanya Fir for lending me a hand!

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Protesting at Mayor Jyoti Gondek’s home

Last Sunday, protestors gathered outside the home of Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek voicing their opposition to vaccine mandates. I strongly condemn the choice of these protestors to protest at her home. While the right to protest is essential in a healthy democracy, there are opportunities to do so without intimidating the families and neighbours of elected officials. There is ample public space available on our streets, at City Hall, parks, and elsewhere to gather and have your voice heard. To protest at someone's home as radical groups like Antifa do is to engage in intimidation. These protestors were in the wrong, plain and simple. People of all political stripes should condemn their actions.