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Jason Kenney

EDMONTON, Alberta,  May 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The leader of one of Canada’s largest provinces said he has “no intention” of making a coronavirus vaccine mandatory, despite the fact that a law exists in his province to allow for this. 

On May 21, Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, said on a Facebook live event (26-minute mark) that despite “rumors” to the contrary, a mandatory coronavirus vaccine is not something he is considering.

“There’s been some misinformation that the government recently adopted a law requiring mandatory vaccinations, that is completely untrue, that is just a total myth.”

“The truth is that since 1910, the Public Health Act, or its previous legislation, has had the ability to require mandatory inoculation. That’s, as far as we know, never been used and certainly the government has no intention of making that mandatory.”

Alberta’s Public Health Act does allow for the provincial government to mandate a vaccine.

Kenney said, however, that should a safe vaccine become available, his government will “strongly encourage people to use it as we do in flu season.”

“We understand that there are some people for whatever reasons they may have, individual reasons may choose not to participate.”

There have been 139 deaths attributed to the coronavirus in Alberta, whose population is about 4.37 million. Currently, there are 45 people in hospital, with five in intensive care.

On Wednesday, Kenney said in the legislature (page 16) during a debate about the coronavirus that he does not plan to renew the State of Public Health Emergency in the province when it is set to expire on June 15.

He added that the reality is, figures show that coronavirus deaths in Alberta are mainly concentrated in the elderly.

“We cannot continue indefinitely to impair the social and economic as well as the mental health and physiological health of the broader population for potentially a year through measures [to combat] an influenza that does not generally threaten life apart from the most elderly, the immune-compromised, and those with co-morbidities,” said Kenney in the legislature.

“Perhaps the most important strategy as we move forward is building a wall of defense around the most vulnerable, seniors in particular.”

Kenney’s government is facing legal action from the Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). The group announced on May 1 that it will be legally challenging the Alberta government over the constitutionality of Bill 10, the Alberta Public Health (Emergency Powers) Amendment Act, 2020.

The JCCF had warned earlier that Bill 10 gives Alberta government ministers too much power: “A cabinet minister can now decide unilaterally, without consultation, to impose additional laws on the citizens of Alberta, if she or he is personally of the view that doing so is in the public interest.” 

PETITION: No to mandatory vaccination for the coronavirus! Sign the petition here.

The JCCF also served a legal warning last week to Kenney over “his government’s arbitrary and unscientific treatment of houses of worship compared to restaurants and bars.”

Alberta was the first Canadian province to launch a coronavirus contact tracing application, which has been downloaded by thousands.

Jay Cameron, a lawyer for the JCCF, told LifeSiteNews that the legal group is closely keeping an eye on government-issued contact tracing apps.

“We are watching carefully and remain concerned about the slippery slope and government comfort with accessing and utilizing personal data,” said Cameron.

Last week, Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) announced a collaboration with the Chinese firm CanSino Biologics Inc. (CanSinoBIO) to test its trial coronavirus vaccine, known as Ad5-nCoV, in Canada.

The trial vaccine Ad5-nCoV was co-developed by the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and CanSinoBIO. It has already been used in initial human trials since mid-March in China.

LifeSiteNews reported that the vaccine candidate Ad5-nCoV uses the HEK293 cell line, which is made from fetal cells harvested from an aborted baby decades ago, and is the property of the NRC. 

The pro-abortion prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, announced in mid-May that Health Canada approved the coronavirus vaccine Ad5-nCoV to be used in human clinical trials. 

In April, Trudeau said he needed to “reflect” upon whether or not a coronavirus vaccine would be made mandatory in Canada.

Recently, an Ontario doctor warned that the Canadian government’s new deal with China to produce a coronavirus vaccine is a “dangerous endeavour” and that “the role of our governments is to build trust through transparency and accountability.”

Kenney defeated the left-wing, socialist, and pro-abortion New Democratic Party under Rachel Notley to take over the premiership with a majority government in 2019. He had an excellent pro-life voting record during his time as a federal member of Parliament, but this changed when he became a politician at the provincial level.

In 2018, Kenney, and most of his United Conservative Party caucus, abstained from voting against a bill from the then-NDP government that banned pro-lifers from standing outside Alberta abortion facilities.

Kenney commented that he was not going to be “playing games” on social issues.

“We’re not going to play games with divisive social issues. We’re here to focus on job creation and economic growth, [and] market access for energy products,” Kenney was quoted as saying.

His comments prompted a fierce backlash from Campaign Life Coalition’s president, Jeff Gunnarson, who said of Kenney’s non-vote, “The NDP are not playing games. They are trampling on pro-lifers’ rights whenever they can get away with it, and shame on Kenney for not standing up for basic human rights and freedoms.”

CLC launched a petition titled “NO VACCINE FROM ABORTED BABIES!”

The petition currently has over 3,800 signatures and calls on the Canadian minister of health, Patty Hajdu, to “immediately discontinue all partnerships and funding involving unethical research and focus exclusively on ethical research to create a safe and morally-acceptable vaccine.”