O’Toole’s Tories are outliers in Canadian politics for keeping vaccination status secret

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OTTAWA – The refusal of federal conservatives to reveal how many of their elected members are fully vaccinated makes them atypical in Canadian politics.

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Most federal and provincial parties are open about the immunization status of their members, although not all legislatures have adopted a rule that requires members to be fully vaccinated.

All members of the government and mainstream opposition in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador say they are fully vaccinated.

In Ontario, where Prime Minister Doug Ford made vaccination a requirement for participation in his group of progressive conservatives, two of his MPPs say they are medically exempt. All opposition MPPs are fully vaccinated.

A spokeswoman for New Brunswick Prime Minister Blaine Higgs says all members of the ruling Conservative Progressive group are fully vaccinated except for one who is on cancer treatment and had to delay his second vaccination until the end of this month.

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All but two MLAs in Manitoba’s progressive conservative government say they are fully immunized. The two refuse to reveal their vaccination status.

Mandatory vaccination rules have also been announced for admission to the Nova Scotia Province House and the Quebec National Assembly.

A similar policy was unveiled at the federal level this week by the internal economy board, the multi-party governing body of the House of Commons. He announced a double vaccination requirement to enter buildings on the Commons compound, including the chamber of the House of Commons itself.

Nothing has been decided yet for the Senate, which sets its own rules.

The move appears to leave Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a tough spot: It didn’t make COVID-19 vaccination a rule for running as a Conservative candidate in recent federal elections, and now it won’t say how many of its 118 MPs are fully vaccinated. At the same time, he wants to return to Parliament in person when it resumes on November 22.

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O’Toole, who contracted COVID-19 and personally promotes the value of vaccines, says he respects the personal health decisions of each individual.

The most recent analysis by The Canadian Press found that at least 80 Conservative MPs are fully vaccinated, while two said they couldn’t be immunized for medical reasons. Two others refused to reveal their status on principle and the others did not respond.

Some in the O’Toole caucus advocate the need to keep his vaccination status private, like Saskatchewan Rep. Jeremy Patzer. He wrote a recent opinion piece saying he rejects “intimidation tactics” to coax people into disclosing private medical information, but later confirmed that he is vaccinated himself.

Similarly, Alberta MP Glen Motz posted on his website: “As much as I support the use of vaccines in our fight against COVID-19, I am equally opposed to forced vaccination.”

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Just as liberals pushed mandatory vaccinations like a wedge during the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to criticize conservatives. He suggested this week that his decision to wait another month to call Parliament was to make sure the entire O’Toole team had time to get vaccinated.

Conservative spokesman Mathew Clancy said the official opposition does not believe that the nine-member domestic economy board “has the jurisdiction to infringe on a member’s right to take his seat in the House of Commons,” but did not elaborate on further details. if I would challenge the decision.

Carleton University professor Philippe Lagasse, an expert on the Westminster parliamentary system, said the rules were not designed to address public health, but it is up to parliamentarians to make their own laws in their parliamentary chamber.

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“The fundamental principle remains the same: this is a collective right and if, as a collective, the Chamber determines that its security and ability to perform its function must be protected against some external force: a disease, a police officer or a court Good So it is, ”he said.

“The reality is that we are not a pure democracy, we are a parliamentary democracy.”

He said the question that some Conservative MPs may raise is whether the domestic economy board can speak on behalf of the entire House of Commons.

However, if the Commons are forced to vote on the issue, it is clear that the mandatory vaccination policy would easily pass, with the support of members of the Liberal Party, the Quebecois Bloc and the NDP.

Federal parties must also decide whether the Commons should resume all normal procedures in person or continue with a virtual component, allowing MPs to participate by video conference.

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In the British Columbia legislature, there is a hybrid option for the assembly itself and a rule that all MLAs, staff, and guests must show proof of vaccination in order to enter the building.

In Saskatchewan and Ontario, visitors must be vaccinated twice 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, spokesman Nathan Cooper said decisions about excluding an MLA from the assembly should be made by the assembly alone.

“This has been a very difficult and fascinating time to watch our democracies grapple with this fundamental pillar of our society in terms of our democracy, and the very real and active concerns around public health,” he said.

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Alberta’s NDP, which says all of its MLAs are fully vaccinated, has lobbied United’s Conservative Prime Minister Jason Kenney to ensure the same in his group. Cooper said it has been “widely reported” that all UCP members are vaccinated except one seeking a medical exemption.

Kenney has said he favors making sure all MLAs are vaccinated or test negative for COVID-19 to enter the assembly, which begins meeting Monday.

Lagasse said that when it comes to introducing a new set of rules for Parliament, an important question is how long they will last, particularly when it affects the ability of the public and parliamentarians to access these spaces.

“We have to be careful with that, but you almost have to deal with it on a case-by-case basis,” he said.