Quebec’s state of emergency will remain in effect until early 2022

Legault said the key to alleviating the state of emergency is vaccinating children between the ages of 5 and 11.

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Quebec Prime Minister François Legault said Thursday that he has no intention of lifting the province’s state of emergency before the start of 2022, when children ages 5 to 11 will have received their COVID-19 vaccinations.

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Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Legault said the state of emergency was necessary to make certain decisions.

“Right now we are paying an additional $ 4 per hour (for staff) because there is a shortage of people who work in health facilities,” he said. “To do that, which is something that is not included in the collective agreement, we are obliged to use the state of emergency.

“We need a state of emergency to pay the bonuses and we still need them so that more people work in health facilities.”

Legault did not refer to the opposition parties in the province, which for weeks have been demanding the lifting of the state of emergency to democratically debate the government’s decisions. He was also silent on legal and rights experts questioning why the emergency measures remain in place.

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The prime minister did not hesitate to mention the province’s public sector unions: “The unions don’t like it. It’s like the world is turned upside down. They take us to court for paying them bonuses. I’ve never seen anything like it. “

Legault said the key to alleviating the state of emergency was vaccinating children.

“The incorporation of young people between the ages of 5 and 11 will greatly increase the percentage of the population that will be vaccinated. It will give us insights on how to remove a lot of the regulations that we have in Quebec.

“The vaccine passport, the masks, everything we have as regulations, we need a state of emergency to do that. Once we have, say, 80 percent of 5-11 year olds vaccinated, the possibility opens up for a lot of regulations to disappear. … The beginning of 2022 is coming. “

Legault made it clear that he was impatient for Health Canada’s green light to proceed with vaccinating young children.

“We have been ready for weeks. … It will completely change the COVID-19 situation in Quebec, ”he said, adding that he expected the vaccination of children to be completed“ no later than ”in January.