OTTAWA – The federal Conservatives’ refusal to disclose how many of their elected officials are fully vaccinated makes it something of an exception in Canadian politics.
Most federal and provincial parties are open about the immunization status of their members, although not all legislatures have adopted a rule requiring members to be fully immunized.
All members of the government and the main members of the opposition in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador say they are fully immunized.
In Ontario, where Premier Doug Ford has made vaccination a requirement to sit in his Progressive Conservative caucus, two of his MPs say they are medically exempt. All opposition members are fully vaccinated.
A spokeswoman for New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said all members of the ruling Progressive Conservative caucus are fully immunized except for one who is on cancer treatment and had to postpone her second vaccine see you later this month.
All but two of the members of the Progressive Conservative government in Manitoba say they are completely immune. The two refuse to reveal their vaccination status.
Mandatory vaccination rules were also announced for admission to the Province House of Nova Scotia and the National Assembly of Quebec.
A similar policy was unveiled at the federal level this week by the Internal Economy Council, the House of Commons multi-party governing body. He announced a dual vaccination requirement to enter the Commons compound buildings, including the House of Commons chamber itself.
Nothing has yet been decided for the Senate, which sets its own rules.
The move appears to leave Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a tough spot: he hasn’t made COVID-19 vaccination a rule to run as a Tory candidate in the recent federal election, and he won’t now say how many of his 118 Members of Parliament are fully immunized. At the same time, he wants to return to a Parliament in person when it resumes on November 22.
O’Toole, who has contracted COVID-19 and personally promotes the value of vaccinations, says he respects an individual’s personal health choices.
The most recent analysis by The Canadian Press found that at least 80 Conservative MPs are fully vaccinated, while two said they could not be immunized for medical reasons. Two others refused to disclose their status on principle and the others did not respond.
Some members of O’Toole’s caucus advocate the need to keep their vaccination status private, such as Saskatchewan backbench MP Jeremy Patzer. He recently wrote an op-ed saying he rejected “bullying tactics” to coax people into divulging private medical information, but then confirmed he was vaccinated himself.
Likewise, Alberta MP Glen Motz posted on his website: “As much as I strongly support the use of vaccines in our fight against COVID-19, I am equally opposed to forced vaccination. “
Just as the Liberals pushed mandatory vaccinations like a wedge during the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued to criticize the Conservatives. He suggested this week that his decision to wait another month to recall Parliament was to make sure the entire O’Toole team had time to get their shots.
Conservative spokesman Mathew Clancy said the official opposition did not believe the nine-member Board of Internal Economy “had the power to infringe a member’s right to sit in the House of Commons.” , but did not say if it would. challenge the decision.
Carleton University professor Philippe Lagasse, an expert on the Westminster parliamentary system, said the rules were not designed to deal with public health, but it is up to MPs to make their own laws in their own way. parliamentary chamber.
“The basic principle remains the same – this is a collective right and if, as a collectivity, the House determines that its security and its ability to perform its function must be protected against an outside force – disease, policeman, or a court – well, that’s how it is, ”he said.
“The reality is that we are not a pure democracy, we are a parliamentary democracy.”
He said the question some Conservative MPs might raise is whether the Board of Internal Economy can speak for the entire House of Commons.
However, if they force the Commons to vote on the issue, it is clear that the mandatory vaccination policy would pass easily, with the support of Liberal, Bloc and NDP MPs.
Federal parties must also decide whether the Commons should resume all normal in-person procedures or continue with a virtual component, allowing MPs to participate by video conference.
In the BC Legislature, there is a hybrid option for the assembly itself and a rule that all Members, staff and guests must show proof of vaccination to be admitted into the building.
In Saskatchewan and Ontario, visitors must be double vaccinated or show a negative COVID-19 test result before entering.
In Manitoba, many continue to participate remotely. President Myrna Driedger said in an email that the legislature has yet to address the issue of vaccination requirements for its chambers.
In Alberta, Speaker Nathan Cooper said that decisions on whether or not to exclude a Member from the assembly must be made by the assembly alone.
“It has been a very complicated and fascinating time to see our democracies grapple with this fundamental part of our society in terms of democracy and the very real and active concerns about public health,” he said.
The Alberta NDP, which claims all of its MPs are fully immunized, urged United Conservative Premier Jason Kenney to do the same for his caucus. Cooper said it has been “widely reported” that all UCP members are vaccinated except for one who requests medical exemption.
Kenney has said he prefers to make sure all MPs are either vaccinated or test negative for COVID-19 to enter the assembly, which begins sitting on Monday.
Lagasse said that when it comes to introducing any new set of rules for parliament, an important question is how long they will last, especially when they impact the capacity of the public and parliamentarians to access these spaces.
“We have to be careful with this, but you almost have to deal with it on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
– with files from Steve Lambert and Dirk Meissner
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 23, 2021
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