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June 5, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Two of the four Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership candidates who identify as “pro-life” say they have objections to unethically sourced coronavirus vaccines made from fetal cells obtained from aborted babies decades ago after responding to an inquiry from LifeSiteNews on the matter.
Asked by LifeSiteNews if they approve of vaccines derived from the use of fetal cells such as Ad5-nCoV, which uses the HEK293 cell line, Dr. Leslyn Lewis and MP Derek Sloan answered with a strong pro-life take.
“Canada should hold itself to the highest ethical standard possible,” Lewis told LifeSiteNews. “A nation like ours with the creativeness and ingenuity of our doctors should never need to breach ethics in order to make every effort to save lives.”
Sloan responded to the question about unethically sourced vaccines such as Ad5-nCoV that they are “reckless.”
“It is reckless and irresponsible,” Sloan told LifeSiteNews.
“Canadians should not have to choose between their health and their conscience.”
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 Canada’s National Research Council (NRC).
In May, the 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.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in mid-May that Health Canada had approved the coronavirus vaccine Ad5-nCoV to be used in human clinical trials.
LifeSiteNews also asked the other two candidates in the running for the CPC leadership, MP Erin O’Toole and Peter MacKay, to give their opinion regarding ethically sourced vaccines. There has been no response from either of them.
Recently, Lewis and Sloan said they oppose a mandatory coronavirus vaccine and that a person should be able to have a choice whether or not to take one.
Sloan stated his position regarding a mandatory coronavirus vaccine in an email sent to his followers on May 27, with the title “Mandatory vaccinations?” Thanks, but no thanks!”
“I am 100% against a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination,” Sloan said in a May 27 email.
Lewis told LifeSiteNews last week that she opposes a mandatory coronavirus vaccine.
“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 asked Sloan and Lewis to give their take on whether they approve of the NRC and Trudeau government working together with China regarding a COVID-19 vaccine.
Lewis told LifeSiteNews that she does not approve of the NRC's decision to work with China on a coronavirus vaccine.
“Not in the slightest,” Lewis told LifeSiteNews.
“China has proven they do not communicate fairly or honestly. We should hold everything they do in regards to COVID-19 with the highest amount of suspicion.”
Sloan told LifeSiteNews that it's “a big red flag” that the NRC chose to work with China on a coronavirus vaccine.
“Dr. Kulvinder Gill, president of Concerned Ontario Doctors, has rightly warned that ‘i)f the Trudeau government wants Canadians to trust and buy into a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, partnering with the Chinese Communist Party’s military is … the most counterproductive and dangerous thing it could do’,” Sloan told LifeSiteNews.
“China concealed the seriousness of the pandemic in its early stages by repressing doctors and denying knowledge of human-to-human transmission. Why would Canada now work with China to develop a vaccine for that same virus?”
LifeSiteNews also reached out to O’Toole and MacKay, asking them where they stand on the issue of the NRC’s decision to work with China. As of publication time, there has been no response.
Trudeau said in April that he needed “time” to reflect upon whether or not a coronavirus vaccine would be made mandatory in Canada.
In Canada, vaccines are not mandatory at the federal level as each province is responsible for their healthcare delivery. At the provincial level, some provinces such as Ontario and New Brunswick have made certain vaccines mandatory via legislation, with a few exceptions, for children to attend public schools.
In British Columbia, parents must now provide their child’s immunization records for their kids to be enrolled in public and private schools.
LifeSiteNews reached out to Trudeau’s office for comment on whether his government supports a mandatory coronavirus vaccine.
A representative from his staff referred the question to the Canadian Minister of Health Patty Hajdu’s office and responded saying that vaccines are not mandatory in Canada, and parents can opt-out.
“Vaccinations are not mandatory in Canada; however, in Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia, proof of immunization against certain vaccine preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps and pertussis, is required for children and adolescents to attend school,” said André Gagnon, communications adviser for Health Canada, to LifeSiteNews.
“In these provinces, parents can request that their child be exempted from the vaccination requirement on medical or religious grounds, or simply out of conscience. In such instances, in the event of a disease outbreak, unvaccinated children can be excluded from entering school until the outbreak is over.”