But by associating with these extremists, Tory appeal to ordinary Canadians is diminished. Short-term gain for long-term pain.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 31, 2022.

OTTAWA—Hundreds of anti-vaxx truckers descended on Ottawa on Saturday and the longer the convoy actually goes on, the more the Conservatives seem to be tangled in the anti-vaccination web.

Now even the New Democrats have been embroiled in the drama after the brother–in-law of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh donated $13,000 to support the convoy.

According to Singh’s office, his relative did not fully understand what the convoy was up to and has now applied to have his funds reimbursed through a GoFundMe process.

Meanwhile, the truckers are rolling in the dough with more than $6-million already collected in support of the convoy.

With the funding come questions as to exactly what the money will be used for. Tamara Lich, convoy organizer, is associated with the Maverick Party, a separatist movement in Alberta. She also launched the GoFundMe page which has been under review by the funding platform because of questions about the transparency of the flow of funds and the plan for disbursement.

However, the truckers have no support from any official provincial or national trucking organization. The international vaccine requirement for truckers was instituted both by Canada and the United States, effective mid-January. Almost 90 per cent of international truckers are already vaccinated so convoy protesters represent a very small number of commercial trucking operations.

Truckers are actually ahead of the rest of Canada when it comes to the numbers of fully vaccinated workers.

That hasn’t seemed to stop the Conservatives from throwing their support behind the movement, with vocal, high-profile approval from former leader Andrew Scheer and current deputy leader Candice Bergen.

Likewise, leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis has accused the vaccine mandate of promoting segregation. Outspoken critic Pierre Poilievre has called the federal requirement a “vaccine vendetta.”

As usual, leader Erin O’Toole is sending out a confusing vaccine message. On the one hand, he refused last week to say whether he planned to meet with truckers, but his caucus was collecting signatures for a petition seeking the reversal of the vaccine mandate for federal workers and international truckers.

If the GoFundMe response is any indication, the Tories could raise a lot of money by jumping on the anti-vaxx wagon. But they also risk alienating a huge percentage of the population that is simply fed up with the refusal of anti-vaxxers to consider science and society in defending their positions.

Just last week, Canadian musical icon Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify after the music streaming platform refused to drop anti-vaxxer and podcaster Joe Rogan. In another health twist, a Boston hospital patient was removed from the wait-list for a heart transplant after refusing to be vaccinated.

The hospital explained its decision by saying vaccination is a lifestyle behaviour “required for transplant candidates … in order to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimize the patient’s survival after transplantation.”

The medical community is unanimous, and the public is not far behind, in Canada and globally.

Tennis whiz Novak Djokovic was literally run out from Down Under after failing to meet Australian Open tennis vaccination requirements. Djokovic said he was planning on studying the matter further after he was deported. He faces the same requirement for the upcoming French Open and apparently may take a pass there as well.

Bearing the new nickname NoVax, Djokovic has allied himself with the same group of vaccine deniers who came to Ottawa.

Some of the Canadian protesters have even gone so far as to suggest they wanted to replicate the Jan. 6 takedown of the American capital, which resulted in five deaths.

Two Canadian convoy participants were photographed—one wearing a Donald Trump MAGA hat and the other wearing a yellow star of David—mimicking the Nazi requirement for Jewish identification.

Convoy organizers have distanced themselves from racist supporters but that didn’t stop white supremacist Paul Fromm from tweeting “I pray this is Canada’s Budapest, 1956, when patriots and ordinary citizens rose up and overthrew tyranny.”

With so few anti-vaxxers, why would the Conservatives even bother to align themselves with the so-called “Canada Unity Convoy.”

Some of it is about building a power base, with petitioners getting embedded into future Conservative communications. Some is about raising money, because the angry folks attached to this convoy are ripe for campaign donation pitches.

But by associating with these extremists, Tory appeal to ordinary Canadians is diminished.

Short-term gain for long-term pain.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

It sounds good to vaccinate all truckers, but hampering $1-billion of daily traffic between Canada and the United States may not help.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 17, 2022.

OTTAWA—To vax tax, or not to vax tax, that is the question.

Once again, the Government of Quebec appears to be at the head of the pack when it comes to new public health policies.

Whether the proposed vax tax is actually brought to fruition remains to be seen.

Reaction to the tax proposal ranges from tepid to negative. The prime minister refused to weigh in, seeking more information. Multiple premiers said they would not be following the lead of Quebec Premier François Legault in levying a health fee on those who refused to be vaccinated.

Premiers opposed to the move include Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe diagnosed with covid just after his public briefing on the issue where the premier was not wearing a mask.

Legault has promised to introduce a package on the health tax in February that will be debated in the Quebec National Assembly. It was no coincidence that the controversial tax was floated at the same time the province lost its second public health director since the beginning of the pandemic.

The departure of Dr. Horacio Arruda was expected to take some heat off the premier for criticism his government has faced following the Christmas implementation of a curfew that now ends Monday.

Throughout the pandemic, Legault’s personal popularity numbers have remained high, even when his province experienced the highest national death rates in long-term care facilities.

Perhaps the surprise tax proposal was designed to keep those numbers high. Most observers have been skeptical about the tax proposal. Some have argued the proposal violates medical ethics. Others call it an attack on universal health care.

If there is a public policy to tax anti-vaxxers, what about smokers or others who contribute to health problems by personal choices? One could argue that the smoker’s tax already exists because the high cost of a package of cigarettes in every province is largely based on taxes, which are ploughed back into provincial health-care expenditures. What is next, an obesity tax? Some see the benefit in a sugar tax for that very reason.

The other question that begs is what result will the tax have in encouraging the non-vaccinated to step up and get the vaccination?

Eighty-five per cent of the Quebec population is already vaccinated and early reports indicate that there has been an uptick in vaccination appointments since the premier’s announcement.

The Government of Quebec also recently announced that vaccination proof will be required to purchase liquor or cannabis in government stores.

That may also be responsible for the increase in vaccination bookings, but the bottom line is that Legault is banking on the fact that the vast majority of Quebecers are tired of being locked down because a small minority of citizens refuses to protect the rest of the population.

Legault has been playing tough with anti-vaxxers while Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems to be going in the opposite direction.

His reaction to the pandemic has been focused on encouraging people to vaccinate but with no mention of coercion.

If anything, the Ontario government has been criticized for worrying more about anti-vaxxers’ rights than those of ordinary citizens. School boards and parents were outraged when the government announced that, with schools reopening in a few days, the threshold for informing families on active school covid cases was being increased.

The announcement that parents would only be informed when 30 per cent of the school student or teacher population was infected caught educators and school boards by surprise.

It runs counter to previous reporting requirements that let parents know when a dozen or so cases were reported in any school.

Minister of Education Stephen Lecce defended the move, saying families could use at-home rapid tests provided by the province if they are concerned about potential infection.

However, critics are saying the lack of transparency is not justifiable.

Meanwhile, the federal government reversed its position again on the requirement of all truckers, Canadians and foreign nationals, to be vaccinated or face quarantine when they are crossing the border. All have to vaccinated as of Jan. 15.

The United States is planning on imposing its own vaccination requirement within the next week.

Some 20 per cent of Canadian truckers are currently unvaccinated and existing supply chain issues could be exacerbated if one of five truckers stopped working this month.

It sounds good to vaccinate all truckers, but hampering $1-billion of daily traffic between Canada and the United States may not help.

Like taxing anti-vaxxers, the cure may be worse than the disease.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

In the end, we each need to do our part to end the pandemic. But we also need embrace life. Life is the whole point of this fight.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on December 30, 2021.

OTTAWA—The Omicron Grinch almost stole Christmas.

But the common sense of Canadians intervened.

Notwithstanding multiple warnings that we should stick to small gatherings, Canadians have taken this year’s pandemic warnings less literally than in the past.

The country has gone from COVID fatigue to burnout, with the majority of us absorbing conflicting transmission information with a grain of winter salt.

Canadians are not oblivious to the slowdown in hospitalization numbers. The province of Nova Scotia, the first to endorse widespread use of rapid antigen tests for detection, has changed its own protocol to take the emphasis off spread and put it where it belongs, in hospitalization levels.

As Omicron appears to be less deadly than its predecessors, it is illogical to lecture Canadians to take it just as seriously. For most, infections are similar to a bad cold or flu, expected during Canadian winters.

Canadians have followed all the advisories and the medical advice from our public health officials. We have been double and triple vaccinated, generally practise social distancing, and masking, and for those efforts, we expect some return on our collective investment.

Simply being told to stay home and repeat the sacrifices of last Christmas is not credible. Ditto for the anti-travel advice.

Many snowbirds who stayed home last year, following government warnings, are flocking to warmer destinations.

People are willing to be cautious, but bowing to the politics of fear seems to have lost its lustre.

The changing virus messages are adding to the ongoing confusion.

After two years of approving cloth masks, Canada’s chief public health officer is now saying that those masks should be ditched in favour of medical grade N-95 masks. Only a few weeks ago, we were told that medical-level masks should be reserved for health-care professionals who are dealing directly with infected patients.

For two years, Canadian health professionals refused to recommend antigen tests as a way of triaging asymptomatic carriers of the virus. But that advice has also been reversed, with the same people who said antigen tests did not work now recommending their usage.

And while Canada was previously insistent that the PCR test is the only legitimate way to test for viral infection, the United States and the European Union have been utilizing rapid tests as a travel requirement since the beginning.

But after almost two years of usage, the Centres for Disease Control in the U.S. is now casting doubt on the accuracy of home-based antigen tests.

So just as many Canadian provinces are starting to distribute home-based antigen tests for personal use, the international community is reversing its position on the efficacy of the selfsame test.

Updated American guidance also involves reducing isolation from 14 to five days for those infected by the Omicron virus. At the same time, the CDC does not use rapid testing as a tool to verify whether the infection has passed because the health organization is now saying that negative tests are not always accurate.

The confusion around rapid test accuracy and the refusal to vaccinate has led to massive infection and death rates in the States. As of the year end, more than 800,000 people have died of the virus. The Canadian death numbers are slightly more than 30,000, illustrating a significantly lower death rate based on better masking and vaccinations.

Canada has not been plagued with the vaccine hostility that has frustrated our southern neighbours.

While we still have some Canadians who simply refuse vaccinations, as of early December, 80 per cent of Canadians had received at least one vaccine, with 76 per cent fully vaccinated.

That compares with slightly more than 60 per cent of Americans, with vaccinations largely lining up on political lines. Democrats support masking and vaccinating while the majority of Republicans refuse to do so.

In the end, we each need to do our part to end the pandemic. But we also need embrace life. Life is the whole point of this fight.

Health officials do their best to convince people to stay home and congregate in small groups. Political leaders reinforce the message that now is not the time to move around.

But the deadly fear that followed the discovery of the first and second virus variant seems to be petering out in the same way that Omicron variant is spreading.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

The Throne Speech made it clear that management of the pandemic was front and centre on the Liberal agenda. To date, that has been a winner for them. For the official opposition to continue to muddy the COVID waters is a huge political mistake.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on November 29, 2021.

Politicians should save personal attacks for elections.

Canadians claim they don’t like these attacks, but history shows they work.

In the heat of a campaign, tagging someone as a part-time Canadian or just “not in it for you” works.

But we are likely three years away from an election. Using the same tactic on the prime minister makes the official opposition leader look angry and petulant.

Erin O’Toole may have reason to be angry. After all, Trudeau called the election, achieving few gains. But his job is not on the line.

Instead, all the post-election political heat is on O’Toole and his caucus in-fighting.

By attacking Trudeau personally, O’Toole and deputy leader Candice Bergen will likely push the undecided into the Liberals’ corner.

Bergen’s Question Period reference to Trudeau’s penchant for pricing surfboards instead of bread-and-butter issues was nasty.

Of course, the prime minister is not currently doing his own shopping, but neither is the leader of the opposition, whose house and grocery bills at Stornoway are paid for by the Canadian taxpayers.

What O’Toole and company should be examining are Liberal policies. When the attack is hard on issues, O’Toole may actually attract followers, instead of just turning people off.

The decision to run hard on inflation is policy-based and could yield some dividends for the Conservatives.

But the blame being focused on Trudeau and Liberal COVID spending runs counter to what most economists are saying.

There is also a chance that the interest rate spike will be short-lived as post-COVID spending splurges settle down to normal. All this remains to be seen but, in this case, the Conservatives are highlighting a fiscal issue that could differentiate them from the Liberals in a way that the Canadian public will appreciate.

If inflation continues to climb, even though it is a worldwide phenomenon, most people will blame the federal government, putting O’Toole in a good position to say, “I told you so.”

But if the Tory leader wants Canadians to consider a shift toward the Conservatives, he has to get his own party’s house in order.

It was a mistake to make COVID the first order of business in the new session. The Conservative whip asked re-elected House Speaker Anthony Rota to rule on the legality of the Commons Board of Internal Economy’s decision to block unvaccinated MPs from entering the House of Commons precinct.

The Conservative position runs counter to all other parties, which unanimously support the vaccine requirement for all their Members of Parliament. The Conservatives continue to claim they support vaccinations, but do not want to make them mandatory in any sector. They also refuse to provide full disclosure on which of their members have not yet been vaccinated.

By refusing to send a clear message on mandatory inoculations, O’Toole’s party is managing to offend the 80 per cent of the population that has followed scientific advice and gotten a vaccination.

The fact that Members of Parliament won’t reveal their vaccination status is frightening, as Question Period has the potential to become a super spreader event.

Government House Leader Mark Holland has already made noises about the number of Conservatives who have secured medical exemptions from the vaccine. Holland is publicly claiming that the number of Tories who may have already secured medical exemptions is statistically impossible.

No doubt, dubious medical exemptions will likely become another story that will serve to underline just how badly the Tories are offside with the rest of the country.

According to Holland, statistically speaking only one Conservative of the 119-member caucus should be qualifying for a medical exemption from vaccination.

No one knows how many Conservatives have been exempted as the party refuses to say.

But as long as the issue is on the public agenda, and parliament is seized with votes on mandatory vaccines for federal employees and travelers on trains or planes, the Conservatives will continue to be on the wrong side of the issue.

Almost two years into the pandemic, scientific experts are calling on governments to convince people to get vaccinated with hopeful messaging, not fearmongering.

But if Parliamentarians themselves are not on board, how can they possibly convince the country to vaccinate our children and follow up with booster shots when necessary?

The Throne Speech made it clear that management of the pandemic was front and centre on the Liberal agenda.

To date, that has been a winner for them. For the official opposition to continue to muddy the COVID waters is a huge political mistake.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Doug Ford is banking on the fact that as the threat wanes, so will the political power of the vaccine question and he wants anti-vaxxers on his side in next June’s provincial election.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on November 8, 2021.

OTTAWA—Erin O’Toole has friends in high places.

And now, Ontario and Quebec provincial governments have taken a page from the O’Toole playbook. They claim to support the need to vaccinate all Ontarians, but have exempted those who work in health-care settings from mandatory vaccinations.

Notwithstanding the sage advice of his former leader that all Conservative MPs should be vaccinated, O’Toole won’t even tell us how many members of his caucus refuse to follow his vaccination advice.

If he can’t convince caucus members to get the jab, how can he convince the country?

Apparently, Quebec and Ontario leaders believe that an individual anti-vaccination right is more important than keeping hospital and extended care patients safe.

Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca accused Ontario Premier Doug Ford of putting anti-vaxers ahead of cancer patients. He was right.

How else to explain the spineless decisions to exempt health-care workers from vaccinations in work settings where they are supposed to be taking care of the most vulnerable people?

Quebec even had a date for implementation of the mandatory rule, extended it, and then cancelled it.

The Ontario premier defended his decision by saying that he was “not prepared to jeopardize the delivery of care to millions of Ontarians.”

Ford even went so far as to claim that once British Columbia required a mandatory vaccine, some surgeries were cancelled because of a shortage of workers. He didn’t mention how many have already been cancelled because of COVID outbreaks.

The premier also claimed tens of thousands of health-care workers could potentially leave if the province mandated vaccines.

In Quebec’s case, the government has approved a two-tier workforce, with all new entrants into the health-care field facing mandatory vaccines while current employees are exempt. Exempt employees are required to be tested thrice weekly, and according to the Quebec Health ministry, some 5,000 of unvaccinated workers are in direct ongoing contact with patients.

So, in both Ontario and Quebec, the politicians have ignored advice from public health officials to promote mandatory vaccinations in settings dealing with vulnerable, hospitalized people.

These political decisions had zero support in the scientific community. The Ontario Science Advisory Table argued that mandatory vaccinations would increase safety and reduce the risk of staffing disruptions.

The Ontario Medical Association also called on the government to mandate vaccinations in the health-care field. The physicians’ call for mandatory vaccinations was joined by the voice of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, which said the vast majority of health-care workers want a mandated vaccine to protect themselves and their patients.

Last week’s dual decisions on vaccinations will ultimately put more patients at risk.

One-hundred and twenty of Ontario’s 141 hospitals signed an Ontario Hospital Association letter calling on the government to mandate vaccines.

The vast majority of medical advice provided to both premiers claimed that the risk from unvaccinated workers far outweighs that of anti-vaxxer labour shortages.

Most patients have already been hit with cancelled surgeries and delayed tests. My requisitioned cancer test was delayed for one year because of the health-care stresses brought on by COVID. When the premier says he is worried about cancellations, why doesn’t he use all the tools at his disposal to prevent another wave of COVID hitting the province.

Listening to the health experts would be a good place to start. It was positively embarrassing to watch his health minister struggle to explain the reasons behind this crazy decision when the premier himself simply provided Ontarians with a written statement.

The look on Christine Elliott’s face made it clear that this was a plan coming from the premier’s office.

At the end of the day, the vast majority of Ontarians are in favour of mandatory vaccinations. But Ford probably believes that the squeaky wheel that got his grease will be more motivated to political action on the matter.

Ford, like Erin O’Toole, is also leading a right-wing party that considers mandatory vaccines a violation of individual freedoms.

O’Toole won’t even convince his own caucus members to get the jab, so he can hardly be expected to force health-care workers to do likewise.

In the end, O’Toole’s refusal to promote vaccine mandates was a major factor in the national Liberal victory.

Ford is banking on the fact that as the threat wanes, so will the political power of the vaccine question.

The premier wants anti-vaxxers on his side in next June’s provincial election.

Ford may be dead wrong, with the emphasis on dead.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

It is hard to understand how conservative values align with putting people’s health at risk in a global pandemic.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 16, 2021.

OTTAWA—Inoculate but keep it secret.

That seems to be the vaccination position of the premiers of Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

It is hard to understand how conservative values align with putting people’s health at risk in a global pandemic.

But in the tug-of-war between collective and individual rights, for Doug Ford, Scott Moe, and Jason Kenney, it is pretty clear that the collective doesn’t count.

It is no surprise that Quebec was the first to mount an aggressive plan to protect the collective. The province moved quickly to announce a vaccination passport and it is developing strict rules covering any non-essential activity, requiring Quebecers to certify their vaccination status.

Quebecers have always supported collective engagement over individual rights. In language laws, that has caused pushback in other parts of the country.

But when it comes to health, the vast majority of Canadians are on their side.

A recent survey showed almost 80 per cent support for an international vaccination travel passport.

That number drops to a slight majority when it comes to proof of vaccination for admission to non-essential public places in Canada.

Next month, Quebec will implement a requirement for vaccination proof by any citizen attending non-essential public places like bars and restaurants.

But Alberta takes the opposite viewpoint. Premier Kenney has gone so far as to state that the province would not “facilitate or accept vaccine passports.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally made a move on the issue last week when the government announced it would be working with all provinces on the provision of an international travel passport.

Federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the passport would be available early in the fall. Canada is already lagging behind several jurisdictions on the passport question.

The European Union has a common vaccine passport. The United Kingdom uses a National Health Service verification.

Canada plans to work with provincial health ministries to verify the vaccination information of Canadians. But with three provinces offside, it seems dubious that the passport will come quickly.

A vaccination passport is the kind of wedge issue that Liberals would love to test in an election.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is encouraging all Canadians to get vaccinated, but some members of his caucus have muddied his message.

Former colleague Derek Sloan last year sponsored a petition questioning the safety of a coronavirus vaccine before he was tossed from caucus for other reasons.

Alberta Conservative MP David Yurdiga said it was “tyrannical” for the government to consider mandatory vaccines for employees under federal jurisdiction. Yurdiga said “Canadians deserve the right to liberty … mandating the vaccine … would be a slippery slope.”

That position is widely praised by hard-core libertarians in his party.

But that viewpoint is opposed by the vast majority of Canadians.

With more than 80 per cent of eligible Canadians already vaccinated at least once, their concerns for their own health override liberty.

As long as an unvaccinated Canadian can prevent herd immunity, the issue is broadly understood as one of collective health safety, not individual freedom.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna gave us a foretaste of what the campaign might look like when she reflected on the similarities between anti-vaxxers, climate deniers and misogynists in a tweet last Thursday. “Quite a club,” she said.

The Conservative Party is the only one being accused of climate change denial. It is also the only party where the majority of caucus members voted to restrict a woman’s right to abortion in a parliamentary vote on June 2.

The upcoming election narrative is becoming clearer, and the refusal by three Conservative premiers to embrace a COVID passport will give oxygen to the Liberal campaign.

Instead of a vote to simply secure a majority, the Liberals now have an issue to put to the people.

Do you believe that Canadians’ protection against the coronavirus is worth a national vaccine passport? Do you think the value of everyone’s health and safety is more important than individuals right to refuse vaccinations?

Within hours of the government’s announcement of a travel passport, business leaders from retail, restaurant and tourism sectors lauded the decision.

They expressed concern that a fourth wave would further damage an already-embattled economy and anything that can be done to prevent that is worth doing.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is even asking the premier to follow the lead of Quebec by developing a vaccine passport for those who want to attend public events and non-essential destinations like dining establishments and cinemas.

Ford will likely refuse. But voters won’t.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

The election will likely be decided on the strength of who can best manage the post-pandemic economic and social recovery.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 9, 2021.

OTTAWA—Happy people vote governments back in.

It is not surprising that at the close of the Olympics, the Canadian government will soon pull the plug on the current minority government.

Some ministerial employees were issued layoff notices last week, standard operating procedure for governments just before an election.

On the Olympic scene, Canadians keep piling up good news stories.

From Andre De Grasse to Damian Warner, from the swimming pool to the soccer pitch, Canada could do no wrong.

And Canadians back home, from family members to Olympiophiles, were riveted to the two-week Olympic run coverage.

Retiring cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, a competitive swimmer herself, sent out a tweet at the beginning of the Games telling her followers that her feed would be sport-dominated for the Olympic period.

She also had something very special to say about the magic of sport, attributing her success in life to the lessons she learned on the water.

On the opening day of the Games, McKenna had a message about the linkage between sport and politics. “I never dreamed of being a politician when I was a kid. I dreamed of being an Olympian. But even though I didn’t make it, all the training paid off for politics.”

McKenna went on to tweet: “I learned more lessons for politics from my time in competitive swimming than anywhere else. Have a clear goal & work hard every day to achieve it, ignore the noise, get back up when you fall, it’s all about the team. And have fun!”

As Canada comes to the close of one of its best Olympics ever, even those who don’t watch the Games are beaming with pride because of the athletes’ performances.

That puts everyone in a good mood. With the country looking at the back end of the pandemic, the Liberals could choose no better moment to call an election.

Even though there were some bumps on the road to recovery, Canada’s current world standing in pandemic management is extremely high.

On the vaccination track Canada is leading the globe, and thus far, has managed to mitigate the spread of variant viruses.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who received plenty of criticism for the slow rollout of the vaccine, will definitely benefit from the high percentage of vaccinated Canadians.

We compare particularly well with the United States. The anti-vaxxers there seem to line up by political party, with the majority of vaccine opponents in the Republican Party. In Canada, even the most die-hard Conservatives understand the value of stopping the spread of COVID via vaccinations.

With the virus under control, and the Olympics winding to a close, the time is ripe for Canadians to go the polls.

Of course, the opposition parties are going to decry the decision, but once the election is called, no one will pay much attention to the whys and the wherefores.

Instead, the election will likely be decided on the strength of who can best manage the post-pandemic economic and social recovery.

With children finally back in the classrooms and university students back on campus, the general mood this autumn will be positive.

An almost giddy euphoria has already set in as Canadians are finally able to enjoy most aspects of life without fear of viral death.

Politics may not be top of mind for most of us, but the writ period of 37 days will be short and sweet.

That doesn’t mean the election will be a slam dunk for the Liberals. If the last election is a guide, anything can happen.

Who knows whether there is another “blackface scandal” lurking in the prime minister’s closet?

But the pre-election summer tour did not go great for the Conservatives. Erin O’Toole seemed to spend more time courting Calgarians than worrying about his status in the eastern parts of the country.

If he is working on solidifying existing support, that does not bode well for O’Toole’s capacity to beat the government. An election win depends on making inroads in Ontario and Quebec, not piling up huge majorities in the only province where the Tories are guaranteed a majority.

As for the New Democrats, they may well benefit from the implosion of the Green Party and with a targeted vote, they could increase their representation in the House of Commons.

But even though their leader has attracted his own TikTok following, Jagmeet Singh will likely not have the same newcomer appeal that he enjoyed in the last election.

A solid campaign could deliver a Liberal majority.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Armed with today’s knowledge and technology, it only makes sense to issue an international vaccine for anyone who plans to travel.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on July 26, 2021.

When does personal freedom blind us to professional responsibility?

When the health-care system permits unvaccinated workers in facilities housing vulnerable people.

It is the state’s job, first and foremost, to protect those who are under its care in public hospitals or long-term communal living arrangements.

The Quebec government understands that. Last April, it became the first jurisdiction in Canada to require health-care workers to either vaccinate or provide thrice-weekly COVID tests to their employers.

Alberta, on the other hand, is clinging to the notion that a vaccination requirement is a violation of civil liberties. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is even considering amending a 100-year-old Alberta law that gives the government the right to mandate vaccines in certain circumstances.

Why would any government assume it is okay to allow employees who have not been vaccinated to come to work?

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters last week that he thinks it is a constitutional right that, “no one should be forced to do anything.” With that perspective, we should all stop paying taxes.

Someone should ask the premier what happened to the constitutional rights of the frail and elderly in long-term care facilities who depend on us to protect them. Many other countries have already decided it is not a personal freedom issue but a health responsibility for those who work in facilities that look after the vulnerable and hospitalized.

Several European countries have already mandated vaccinations for all health-care employees. France, a country which has some of the strongest worker protection laws in the world, has imposed a deadline of Sept. 15 for health-care workers to be vaccinated or lose their jobs.

Throughout the pandemic, politicians have repeatedly stated that it is their job to listen to the science.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has been calling on provincial governments to make sure they bring in vaccination rules that cover all facilities, not just those in the public sector. The CMAJ also believes that mandatory vaccinations in those facilities would pass a Charter challenge even though a previous call for mandatory flu vaccines was disallowed.

In this case, the disease transmission and death rate from failing to vaccinate is much higher than for a flu vaccine, and there are already a number of vaccination requirements mandated for hospital employment that have passed Charter scrutiny.

Health-care associations in Canada have been calling on premiers to act quickly and save lives.

Voiceless patients in long-term care facilities, many of whom died during this pandemic, have every right to be fully protected.

On-site testing is not enough.

What is even more egregious is that the cost of refusing the vaccination is not even being borne by the anti-vaxer, but by the rest of us.

In many instances, health-care professionals are required to have tests to prove they are COVID-free. In New Brunswick, unvaccinated workers in long-term care facilities must be tested every second day. If the test is molecular, the cost is approximately $200 each, so in the course of a single week, $800 could be spent to guarantee the employment rights of anti-vaxxers.

A simpler solution would be to make the vaccine mandatory and deliver it quickly.

British Columbia’s chief medical officer of health stated last month that mandatory vaccination was one of the options being considered in their long-term care facilities.

According to the Ontario Medical Association and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, mandatory vaccines in the health care system could help prevent a third wave of infection caused by the delta variant of the Coronavirus.

On the science side, the verdict is unanimous: a health care vaccination program would have a significant impact in reducing the possibility or severity of a third wave of variant Covid infection.

There is zero reason for politicians to play the civil liberty card on this one.

I still carry a federal vaccination card that was co-issued by Health Canada and the World Health Organization as a requirement to comply with international health regulations when entering various countries. The vaccines were administered and signed off by Health Canada and you could not enter certain countries without this vaccination certificate.

In those days, we were not dealing with a virus that morphed into a pandemic.

Armed with today’s knowledge and technology, it only makes sense to issue an international vaccine for anyone who plans to travel.

And it is about time the Canadian government and the provinces got their act together and realized that saving lives trumps vaccine liberty.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Let’s hope it does not fall on deaf Canadian ears. Dose two should mean freedom.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on May 17, 2021.

To mask or not to mask, that is the question.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States just issued a directive that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask or practise social distancing.

The directive had immediate repercussions in the United States with politicians in the nation’s capital appearing maskless for the first time in more than a year.

Even the president emerged for his first mask-free press conference since the beginning of the pandemic. He vaunted his country’s aggressive vaccination strategy, revealing the country delivered 250 million shots in 114 days. Almost 60 per cent of the American population have already received at least one vaccine.

So, the president was celebrating the chance to be mask-free indoors and outdoors.

The directive has also led to some confusion, as the issue of masking has created a difficult political divide between pro and anti-maskers.

Some of those who have been promoting masking believe the new directive is erring on the side of COVID 19, not caution. But the CDC has backed up their directive with a simple message.

People who are fully vaccinated are safe. And vaccinated people are extremely unlikely to pass the infection along to others.

In Canada, our government is still waffling on what vaccinated Canadians can expect. The government is waiting for advice from Health Canada on the protocol in the post-vaccine world. They could be waiting for a very long time.

In the past 14 months, Canada has refrained from introducing national guidelines on vaccination so the story changes from province to province.

And even though there is absolutely no scientific reason to do so, the government requires fully vaccinated travellers to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the country.

However, if you refuse to go to a COVID hotel in Ontario or British Columbia you face a fine of $3,000 while in Alberta, there is no fine.

Why? Because Alberta did not adopt the federal act for hotel quarantines. Even though Alberta announced tougher restrictions to fight soaring disease rates last week, that province and Saskatchewan have refused for more than 14 months to sign on to the Contraventions Act.

You can go golfing or play tennis in Quebec. In Ontario you can do neither as the provincial government is moving to extend a full lockdown into the month of June.

In the National Capital Region, an Ontarian is barred from hiking in the Gatineau Park which is about 10 minutes from Parliament since it is on the wrong side of the river. All this notwithstanding the fact that there is not a scintilla of evidence to support outdoor viral transmission.

The outdoors is our friend when it comes to the virus. That is where people can exercise, take in some fresh air, and return to sporting activities that keep them healthy. Sitting inside comes with its own set of health problems, especially for older people who need to keep moving in the fight against arthritis, diabetes, heart issues and many diseases that affect the aged.

Ontario has also decided to suspend all first doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, citing paucity of supply and potential health issues related to blood clots. Meanwhile the United Kingdom, vaccinating at the rate of 600,000 a day mostly with Astra Zeneca, announced last Monday there were no COVID deaths in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is talking about a one-dose summer and a two-dose fall, claiming that all Canadians will be able to be fully vaccinated by the end of summer.

The country is moving ahead on accelerating the vaccination rollout, now jumping to the head of the line in vaccinations for all countries in the G7.

But a vaccination system without post-vaccination guidelines leaves people wondering just what is the point of vaccines?

And in the absence of clarity, confusion reigns.

There is still no national decision on the use of a vaccine passport.

Yet it stands to reason that if we want to return to normal life, a vaccine record can help guarantee safety and security of all.

In the workplace, vaccinated employees should be able to throw away their masks, especially in environments like packing plants and food processing companies where masks have been doubly challenging.

No doubt the CDC announcement will resonate around the world. Let’s hope it does not fall on deaf Canadian ears. Dose two should mean freedom.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

As medical specialists ratchet up the message of concern around the virulent spread of the COVID variants, the public is simply not listening.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on April 19, 2021.

The naked member’s member was discreetly blocked by a phone in another first for Canadian parliamentary procedure last week.

Obviously, the Liberal Member of Parliament from Pontiac, Que., was mortified when he learned his parliamentary camera accidentally caught him in his birthday suit.

Will Amos issued an embarrassed apology which was immediately accepted by Chief Government Whip Mark Holland, responsible for upholding decorum on the government side of the House of Commons.

Other parties jumped in to make sure this historic moment was shared with a wider audience, as the first screening was limited to an internal parliamentary committee feed.

Colleagues offered, tongue-in-cheek, to lend clothing to Amos, and the Bloc even raised a question of parliamentary privilege because Amos’ requisite suit and tie was absent from the filming.

In Amos’ defence, he claimed he had just gone for a run and was getting changed to prepare for committee when the rogue camera lens went viral.

His flub went beyond Canada, making international headlines in many parts of the world.

It was a welcome respite from the doomsday scenario playing out daily in Canada’s fight against COVID.

As medical specialists ratchet up the message of concern around the virulent spread of the COVID variants, the public is simply not listening.

Most of the dramatic messaging saturating the airwaves 24 hours a day, appears to be falling on deaf ears as Canadians have abandoned the stay-at-home strategies of the past 14 months.

With the weather warming up, young people are trying to reconnect with friends by gathering in parks and open spaces. In some instances, these super-spreader events have simply ignored any attempt to limit their social contacts, and we have seen the spread of the virus through indiscriminate crowds gathering in all provinces.

Canada’s doomsday approach has actually been seen in stark contrast to what is happening in other parts of the world.

The United States has already opened up international and domestic travel to those who have been fully vaccinated, and their rate of vaccination is moving closer to full herd immunity.

In addition, Canada is languishing in 11th place in the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s COVID misery index.

The tool compares health outcomes from all diseases in 15 “peer” nations and analyses the success or failure of a lock-down versus vaccination strategy.

At last count, Canada ranked 11 among the 15 with the worst death rate amongst those over 85 years of age, and those aged 15 and over. While COVID-related deaths are low, threats to life and health in other areas have been exacerbated by delayed treatment.

Canada also ranks 11th in overall full-dose vaccinations, but that number jumps to second when considering the percentage of the population that has already received a first vaccine.

The United States is the only country with more vaccinations, but our southern neighbour has also issued directives for those who have been fully vaccinated.

Canada continues to treat fully vaccinated citizens with the same rules as those that apply to non-vaccinated people.

What is the point of vaccinating if the benefits of doing so are not shared by the Canadian population?

The Government of Canada still requires vaccinated Canadians with a current COVID-free test result to remain in quarantine when returning from an international trip.

Neither science nor medicine can provide a single health-related reason for this isolation, so it is little wonder that the public health officials who are informing Canadians about COVID health risks have been largely tuned out.

Prince Edward Island Liberal MP Wayne Easter put the situation best when he said that Americans are moving full steam ahead, while Canadians are subject to the “fear factor” in their desire to keep even internal borders closed.

Just last week, the Atlantic premiers agreed to collectively extend the prohibition against visitors for another two weeks, with May 3 now cited as the date to reopen unquarantined travel.

Almost a month ago, Easter issued a call to begin the process for opening up the borders.

In March, Alaskan Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan introduced legislation intended to permit cruise ships to enter their borders while bypassing Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a one-year moratorium on cruising last February.

After the Air Canada bailout announced last week, expect more airlines and more industries to line up with their hands out to cover their Covid losses.

One way to avoid massive bailouts is to vaccinate enough people to secure herd immunity.

Otherwise, Canadians will simply choose to ignore the droning COVID doomsayers.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.