TORONTO – Controversy over mandatory vaccine for certain categories in Ontario and Canada is re-erupted. The issue, thorny and controversial, has been lying under the ashes for some time, covered in recent weeks by the noise of the electoral campaign and the media fury on parties, leaders and their programs. Closed the voting chapter, the issue has re-ebbed in recent days in a disruptive way, causing a trail of controversy, accusations and poisons with uncertain outcomes.
A first signal, in the last twenty-four, came from the RCMP union. But we need to take a step back.
In August, during the election campaign, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proposed mandatory vaccination for all federal employees and therefore also for the police force. Now, the provision at the legislative level has yet to be implemented, but the Liberal leader has reiterated how his future government will go on that road. The National Police Federation, a police union, has announced that it supports the right of policemen who do not want to be vaccinated: “We will assist – reads an internal email – and we will represent the members individually who make this choice and the possible consequences from the point of view of work”.
The tug-of-war at the federal level is also repeated in the municipal one. In this case the clash concerns public transport in Toronto. The TTC in fact accuses the trade unions of lack of transparency: according to the Toronto Transit Commission, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 would have asked its members not to make public their vaccination status and this despite there is a specific request to this effect by the city authorities. So far, only 56 percent of TTC employees have reported the vaccination against Covid-19: a very low number, if we consider that, for example, 94 percent of Metrolinx workers have made their vaccination status public.
On September 7, the TTC announced the vaccination obligation for its employees that must become effective from next October 30.
Today came the reverse: Carlos Santos, president of ATU Local 113, officially invited members to present their vaccination status by September 30th.
There is therefore resistance, which extends a little in all sectors of society and in all the productive sectors of Ontario. The vaccination obligation decided by numerous hospitals in Toronto and the rest of the province is about to expire: an autonomous decision, without any kind of indication from the provincial government, which could lead to suspension without salary until the dismissal in trunk for the no vax health personnel.
The problem, once again, is the lack of a specific directive from Prime Minister Ford and the Ontario executive.
The truth is that the provincial leader in recent months has never hidden his opposition to more restrictive measures on the vaccination front.
Doug Ford had maintained a line of firm opposition to the creation of a vaccination passport all summer, only to have to back down last month following the pressure of the entire political class and trade associations in the production sector.
Even on the need to implement the vaccination obligation for some work categories, the premier had not shown great enthusiasm: just think, for example, how at this moment in Ontario there is not even the obligation of vaccination for those who work in long-term care homes, for staff therefore in contact with the weakest and most fragile groups – and most susceptible to Covid-19 – of our society.
In this case it is the same private companies that own the LTCs that have had to self-organize, changing the policy of hiring only vaccinated personnel. In short, the theme is always the same: too many times during this pandemic there has been a lack of a firm and decisive hand on the part of politics, which has often preferred not to decide until the emergency has arrived.
What is happening in Alberta, with the health care system collapsing due to the immobility of the government led by Prime Minister Jason Kenney, is a warning from which we should draw a valuable lesson.
