TORONTO, Ontario, July 19, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The Premier of Ontario will not force residents of his province to be inoculated against COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford told reporters on Thursday that his government will neither make COVID-19 injections mandatory nor create “a split society” by implementing local vaccine passports.
“I’ve never believed in proof [of vaccination cards]. […] We aren’t doing it, simple as that,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters when asked if he would introduce a vaccine passport at the local level.
“The answer is no. We aren’t going to do it; we aren’t going to have a split society.”
Despite saying no to provincial vaccine passport, Ford said he will be talking to Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau regarding a national proof of vaccination document.
Trudeau said in June that this autumn his government will be rolling out a type of “national certification of vaccination status” that travelers can use to prove they’ve had the “full” two doses of the COVID-19 jab.
Meanwhile, Ford has said “no one” in Ontario, including health care workers, will be forced to get a COVID-19 shot, saying it is their “choice.”
“No, I think it’s their constitutional right to take it, or not take it; these are super bright people that work their backs off,” said Ford.
“We encouraged them to do it; I’ve been out here for months, begging, pleading [for] everyone to get it, but no one should be forced to do anything.”
Ford also said, when asked by a reporter regarding private companies mandating COVID-19 injections as a condition of employment, that he is “not in favor of a mandatory certification, I’m just not. And by the way, neither is the chief medical officer.”
The premier also took the time to encourage COVID-19 injections again, saying, “Please get out there and get vaccinated.”
Ford stated that he “can’t stand lockdowns” and that the province “can’t afford one.” When asked if he would again lock down the province, the Premier said he enacted them only on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Ontario.
Ontario moved into Step 3 of its reopening plan on Friday, meaning cinemas, restaurants, and gyms were open after having been closed for months. Churches are allowed to operate with no capacity limits as long as “physical distancing” can be maintained.
Ford has come under fire from both politicians and doctors for imposing some of the harshest COVID-19 restrictions in North America.
Recently, Randy Hillier, the Independent MPP for Lanark — Frontenac — Kingston, told LifeSiteNews that although Ford revoked the province’s Declaration of Emergency last month, his government voted to extend the Reopening Ontario Act until December of 2021.
Hillier said this still means Ford has vast powers never afforded to him before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
Independent Ontario MPP Roman Baber was booted from Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party in January for opposing COVID-19 lockdowns.
Baber has also accused Ford of creating a “police state” due to COVID-19 restrictions, and said Ford’s “government has lost legitimacy to govern,” due to what Baber listed as a myriad of virus lockdown-related unintended consequences.
The MPO has also sued the government for restrictions around outdoor prayer and gatherings.
Ford’s comments on vaccines echo those of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who recently said that his government will neither introduce a provincial “vaccine passport” nor accept one if imposed at the federal level.
However, two other Canadian provinces will be going ahead with forms of proof of vaccination for non-essential services.
Brian Pallister Premier of the province of Manitoba said earlier last week that only those who have had two COVID-19 jabs will be allowed the “extra privileges” of accessing such popular venues as cinemas, sporting events, and museums.
In the late spring, Pallister officially launched the province’s immunization card program for those who have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
In May, the Quebec government announced that they will now send “electronic proof” in the form of a QR code to those who have had a COVID-19 jab.
Recently, the government of Quebec threatened to enforce a local COVID-19 vaccine passport which would limit access to services deemed non-essential.
To make your opinion respectfully known, please contact:
Premier Doug Ford
Room 281
Legislative Building, Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1
Phone: 416-325-1941
Email: [email protected]
or
your Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament via the Ontario MPP Contact information page