Time to End Federal Restrictions
[:en]It has been nearly six months since some 4,000 federal public servants who chose not to be vaccinated, chose not to disclose their status, or sought exemptions were put on leave without pay.
As of the beginning of this month, nearly half remain at home.
These Canadians, like so many people, have been treated like outcasts, coerced, and threatened with the loss of their livelihoods. Unlike other Canadians, however, they have also been denied access to Employment Insurance.
I have been clear from day one, I believe any Canadian who wants one should have access to vaccines and those who choose not to should not be discriminated against. Period.
I believe vaccination—like any other personal medical decision—is a private matter and should be left up to individual Canadians to decide for themselves what is best for them and for their family. Nobody should lose their job or be made to feel “less than” because they chose not to be vaccinated or chose not to disclose on the grounds of privacy.
For the government to coerce anyone to take any medical treatment they do not wish to receive is wrong and sets a dangerous precedent.
The government was supposed to inform those on leave by April 6th whether they still had a job or if they’d be dismissed. That deadline has come and gone, leaving many families still in limbo.
The federal government owes it to these families to let them know their fate—personally, I think they should be re-instated with full back pay for the past six months for the cruel and unfair way they were treated.
Moreover, many others—who are vaccinated—could suddenly be affected by this same policy if the government chooses to change their definition of “fully vaccinated” to include a booster shot. A growing number of Canadians are wary of getting a third (or fourth) shot. These individuals who complied, initially, could soon find themselves facing the same fate as their peers who chose not to. Or not, we just don’t know, because the government has failed to articulate their policy.
This is likely because the government cannot make a logical case for keeping the existing policy but won’t lift it because they want to continue to punish anyone who chooses not to submit to government overreach.
This isn’t about health. It’s about power.
This decision wasn’t based on medical science. It was (and remains) political, punitive, and arbitrary. How else can one explain putting a public servant who was already working from home on leave? Moreover, thousands of public servants were exempted from the mandate, with no explanation as to why, making this mandate—like so many others—the very definition of arbitrary.
It’s time to end ALL federal restrictions.
The Provinces get it. The rest of the world gets it. Only this Prime Minister and his Cabinet, drunk on the additional powers they’ve enjoyed the past two years, remain out of touch.
Send our RCMP officers and public servants back to work. Allow members of our military to be reinstated. Open the border. Remove the equally arbitrary and discriminatory travel restrictions.
To Justin Trudeau I say, end the mandates, end the restrictions, apologize for the harm you have done, and let ALL Canadians get back to work, travel and a normal life.
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