Hanes: Tax on the unvaccinated is populist but not practical

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When it comes to public health policy, several experts criticize Quebec’s proposed tax on the unvaccinated as punitive, unethical, impractical, inequitable, unfair, and discriminatory.

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But as a cunning political strategy, it promises to be popular.

Prime Minister François Legault revealed plans for the unorthodox move at a news conference Tuesday, called to react to the resignation of Quebec’s national director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, and introduce his interim replacement, Dr. Dr. Luc Boileau. The surprise fiscal announcement, which would be the first in Canada, easily diverted attention from his government’s mishandling of a devastating fifth wave of the pandemic.

Legault referred to the new tax as a “contribution” that would be collected from the unvaccinated at tax time, much like premiums for the public drug plan. Promising that it would be a “significant” amount, details about cost, criteria and implementation were scant, perhaps intentionally.

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The fee is the latest electroshock the government is employing in a bid to jolt the 10 percent of the population who are resistant to vaccines into finally rolling up their sleeves. If requiring a vaccination passport to shop at the Société des alcools du Québec and the Société québécoise du cannabis inspired some reluctant people to rush to the nearest immunization center for their first dose, the idea is that threatening them with a tax bill will prove equally motivational. Or not.

There are questions about whether such a gambit will have any impact on the stubbornly unvaccinated who are ideologically opposed to getting vaccinated, infected by conspiracy theories and in denial of the scientific evidence of the pandemic.

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But maybe that’s not the point. This seems not so much to convince the holdouts as to placate vaccinated Quebeckers who are increasingly frustrated with living under a curfew, educating their children remotely and postponing their heart or cancer surgeries as the fragile health network flexes under the strain of caring for COVID-19. 19 cases among the unprotected. The unvaccinated are overrepresented in hospitals, accounting for half of admissions and most of ICU beds.

“I think it’s a question of justice for the 90 percent of the population that made some sacrifices,” Legault said, referring to the majority of the population that has received one, two or three punctures. “I think we owe them that kind of measure.”

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Legault is clearly betting that the public will be pleased to see the government stick to those who are selfishly holding everyone back. At a minimum, Quebecers put off by the idea are unlikely to object strongly. Surveys show that the vaccinated take a dim view of those who refuse and support tighter controls on what they are allowed to do . After losing face by backing down to healthcare workers who oppose vaccine mandates, a tax on the disenfranchised gives an illusion of strength.

It’s classic populism, which is Legault’s style. And it is in keeping with his penchant for majority rule and for elevating collective rights above individual ones. Even if court challenges from an anti-vaccine free-choice advocate are all but certain, the prospect of legal wrangling has never before deterred the Legault government.

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As much as hitting the unvaccinated on the wallet might satiate visceral urges as patience for their antics wears thin, it’s unlikely to be effective. Worse, it risks failing by making the hardcore more alienated, antisocial, and defiant. The fines imposed in Austria against anti-vaccines caused riots and riots.

The “significant contribution” will do little to reach those who are unvaccinated because they are afraid, marginalized, or distrustful of the government and could be put at ease with education and empathy.

Some doctors fear the tax is a slippery slope toward the commodification of medicine, while others see it as undermining the principles of universal health care.

The list of reviews goes on and on. But none of that really matters if this is really a government that clings to ideas that wants to be seen shaking a big stick at social outcasts.

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Vaccines are undoubtedly the best weapon we have against COVID-19. Quebec has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, which it should be proud of. No effort should be spared to convince the hesitant to get vaccinated, and especially to convince more parents to protect their children.

But all the tax really shows is that after 22 months, the Legault government is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of novel and effective policies to guide us through the pandemic. And politics will not save lives, nor the health system.

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