ONTARIO, May 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Canadian Conservative leadership candidate Derek Sloan has taken a strong stand against mandatory vaccination for the coronavirus and is challenging his opponents to go on the record, too.
“I am 100% against a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination,” Sloan said in an email to supporters May 27. “Where do the other candidates stand?”
“Canadians should be allowed to make up their own minds when it comes to getting vaccinated, and parents — not the government — should make the decision about getting the vaccine for their children.”
LifeSiteNews reached out to Dr. Leslyn Lewis, the only other officially pro-life candidate in the running for the CPC leadership, to ask her if she opposes a mandatory coronavirus vaccine. Lewis responded that she does not support one.
“I do not believe that the government should be allowed to force vaccinations on people,” she said. “The decision whether or not to vaccinate should be made by Canadians under the advice of their personal family doctor.”
LifeSiteNews also reached out to the two other approved CPC leadership candidates, M.P. Erin O’Toole and former M.P. Peter MacKay, asking them where they stand on the issue of mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. As of press time, there has been no response.
In his May 27 email, Sloan said individuals should be able to decide whether they can receive a coronavirus vaccine.
“If a vaccine is developed, we should all have the opportunity to decide whether or not we want it,” said Sloan.
He mentioned in his email that he would go “one step further” than the premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, who said his government would not make a coronavirus vaccine mandatory during a Facebook live event in mid-May.
“But I will go one step further than Premier Kenney: elected officials in Canada must commit that vaccination will not be mandatory,” said Sloan.
LifeSiteNews also reached out to the office of the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, for comment on whether his government supports a mandatory coronavirus vaccine.
PETITION: No to mandatory vaccination for the coronavirus! Sign the petition here.
Trudeau said in April that he needed “time” to reflect upon whether or not a coronavirus vaccine would be made mandatory in Canada.
A representative from his staff also referred our question to the office of the Canadian minister of health, Patty Hajdu. As of press time, we have not heard a response.
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.
Trudeau announced in mid-May that Health Canada had approved the coronavirus vaccine Ad5-nCoV to be used in human clinical trials.
Sloan has been vocal about his pro-life and pro-family views during his campaign in the leadership race. Recently, he called on authorities across the country to allow churches to reopen, saying, “God matters to many people.”
Sloan said that in Canada, “we can all stay safe without surrendering our constitutional freedoms, including the freedom to worship in assembly.”
He sparked a media frenzy for saying in a letter and video that Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief medical officer, should be fired for her coronavirus response.
He recently spoke about his 12-point pro-life plan with Campaign Life Coalition (CLC)’s political operations director, Jack Fonseca, as part of the 2020 Virtual March for Life.
Sloan’s plan includes a ban on sex-selective abortion, a ban on partial-birth abortion, freedom of conscience for health care workers, and a review of the current euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation.
Lewis also spoke with Fonseca about her promised pro-life initiatives should she win the leadership race.
In speaking with Fonseca, Lewis went over her promised pro-life initiatives that she would enact if elected leader. Lewis said she would ban coerced and sex-selective abortions, increase funding for pregnancy crisis centers, and end federal funding for international abortions.
CLC has launched a petition titled “No vaccine from aborted babies!”
The petition currently has 3,830 signatures and calls on the Canadian minister of health to “immediately discontinue all partnerships and funding involving unethical research and focus exclusively on ethical research to create a safe and morally-acceptable vaccine.”