Nick Boisvert
© Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Parliament will resume before the end of the fall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Members of Parliament returning to work in the coming weeks could be doing so without a firm COVID-19 vaccination requirement — a rule that's expected to be introduced for hundreds of thousands of federal public servants and workers in federally regulated sectors.
If such a requirement is not introduced, it would mean that politicians deciding on vaccination protocols for much of the Canadian public wouldn't necessarily have to get vaccinated themselves.
But with the House of Commons scheduled to resume at some point this fall, there is already pressure to create a similar rule for returning MPs.
"They get fully vaccinated or they stay home," Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said today.
"[If] the price to be paid for this Parliament to start working fully and rapidly again is to force everybody walking in the building to be fully vaccinated, then let's do that."
The House of Commons has introduced a variety of health and safety measures during the pandemic — such as the masking rule and the suspension of non-essential activities — but the group responsible for devising those rules has not yet decided if vaccines will also be required.
MPs designated as spokespeople for the Board of Internal Economy, the governing body of the House of Commons, have not responded to requests from CBC News about the prospect of a vaccination requirement.
It may be possible for MPs to impose a vaccination mandate by a majority vote in the House of Commons. There's little precedent for such an action, however.
Liberal MP Hedy Fry, a doctor, said Parliament has an obligation to set an example.
"We cannot have two sets of rules," Fry told CBC News. "We are the ultimate public servants and I think we have to obey the rules."
The Office of the Prime Minister says its planned vaccine mandate will apply to ministers and staff in their offices, though it cannot decide rules for Parliament as a whole.
Public service mandate a priority for Trudeau
The federal government announced in August that it would require vaccination across the federal public service and for travellers by air, rail and ship within Canada, though that rule is not yet in effect.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that implementing the mandate is at the top of his government's post-election to-do list.
Ottawa says it also expects Crown corporations and employers in federally regulated sectors — such as banking and telecommunications — to require their employees to be vaccinated.
An estimated 1.3 million people work in federally regulated sectors.
The proposed mandate could also cover political staff who work in Parliament, the House of Commons and the Senate, since they are generally covered by health and safety protections under the Canada Labour Code.
Details on how the mandate will be applied in the public sector have not yet been announced. Ottawa has said the mandate will go into effect by the end of October.
Most MPs already fully vaccinated
Both the Liberals and NDP required that their candidates be vaccinated during the election campaign, though they did not extend that requirement to staff members. The Bloc Québécois said all of its candidates have been vaccinated, which prevented the need for a party-wide mandate.
"Getting vaccinatedis the right thing to do and elected leaders have a responsibility to set a good example by following public health advice," said NDP MP Peter Julian in a statement.
The Conservatives and Greens, meanwhile, only recommended that their candidates be vaccinated during the election campaign.
The Conservatives did not say if they would support a vaccine mandate for MPs, but a party spokesperson indicated that its members would follow whatever health and safety directives are created.
"Vaccines are safe and effective. They are the most important tool in combating COVID-19. Conservatives will continue to respect all public health guidelines," wrote Chelsea Tucker, the Conservatives' director of communications.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said during the election campaign that he opposed making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for public servants and travellers. He said that alternative measures, such as rapid tests, could be used for unvaccinated workers and travellers.
Unvaccinated Conservative MPs should 'stay home' from Parliament: Bloc leader
OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Wednesday the next session of Parliament should happen in person with any members who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 staying home.
Members of Parliament returning to work in the coming weeks could be doing so without a firm COVID-19 vaccination requirement — a rule that's expected to be introduced for hundreds of thousands of federal public servants and workers in federally regulated sectors.
If such a requirement is not introduced, it would mean that politicians deciding on vaccination protocols for much of the Canadian public wouldn't necessarily have to get vaccinated themselves.
But with the House of Commons scheduled to resume at some point this fall, there is already pressure to create a similar rule for returning MPs.
"They get fully vaccinated or they stay home," Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said today.
"[If] the price to be paid for this Parliament to start working fully and rapidly again is to force everybody walking in the building to be fully vaccinated, then let's do that."
The House of Commons has introduced a variety of health and safety measures during the pandemic — such as the masking rule and the suspension of non-essential activities — but the group responsible for devising those rules has not yet decided if vaccines will also be required.
MPs designated as spokespeople for the Board of Internal Economy, the governing body of the House of Commons, have not responded to requests from CBC News about the prospect of a vaccination requirement.
It may be possible for MPs to impose a vaccination mandate by a majority vote in the House of Commons. There's little precedent for such an action, however.
Liberal MP Hedy Fry, a doctor, said Parliament has an obligation to set an example.
"We cannot have two sets of rules," Fry told CBC News. "We are the ultimate public servants and I think we have to obey the rules."
The Office of the Prime Minister says its planned vaccine mandate will apply to ministers and staff in their offices, though it cannot decide rules for Parliament as a whole.
Public service mandate a priority for Trudeau
The federal government announced in August that it would require vaccination across the federal public service and for travellers by air, rail and ship within Canada, though that rule is not yet in effect.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that implementing the mandate is at the top of his government's post-election to-do list.
Ottawa says it also expects Crown corporations and employers in federally regulated sectors — such as banking and telecommunications — to require their employees to be vaccinated.
An estimated 1.3 million people work in federally regulated sectors.
The proposed mandate could also cover political staff who work in Parliament, the House of Commons and the Senate, since they are generally covered by health and safety protections under the Canada Labour Code.
Details on how the mandate will be applied in the public sector have not yet been announced. Ottawa has said the mandate will go into effect by the end of October.
Most MPs already fully vaccinated
Both the Liberals and NDP required that their candidates be vaccinated during the election campaign, though they did not extend that requirement to staff members. The Bloc Québécois said all of its candidates have been vaccinated, which prevented the need for a party-wide mandate.
"Getting vaccinatedis the right thing to do and elected leaders have a responsibility to set a good example by following public health advice," said NDP MP Peter Julian in a statement.
The Conservatives and Greens, meanwhile, only recommended that their candidates be vaccinated during the election campaign.
The Conservatives did not say if they would support a vaccine mandate for MPs, but a party spokesperson indicated that its members would follow whatever health and safety directives are created.
"Vaccines are safe and effective. They are the most important tool in combating COVID-19. Conservatives will continue to respect all public health guidelines," wrote Chelsea Tucker, the Conservatives' director of communications.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said during the election campaign that he opposed making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for public servants and travellers. He said that alternative measures, such as rapid tests, could be used for unvaccinated workers and travellers.
Unvaccinated Conservative MPs should 'stay home' from Parliament: Bloc leader
OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Wednesday the next session of Parliament should happen in person with any members who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 staying home.
© Provided by The Canadian Press
Questions remain about what the return to Parliament will look like for Canada's 338 elected representatives after the recent federal election saw the Liberals re-elected with a minority government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will name his cabinet next month and Parliament will resume sometime in the fall.
Since the pandemic hit in March 2020, the House of Commons and committees had been functioning with some MPs working from Ottawa, but many others appearing virtually, including, later on, to vote, before the election was called.
Blanchet said he wants to see Parliament resume quickly with MPs having to be fully vaccinated in order to be there in person because now vaccines against the novel coronavirus are more widely available.
His party, along with the New Democrats and Liberals, made it a rule that candidates had to be fully vaccinated in order to hit the doorsteps, but the Conservatives did not.
"They get fully vaccinated or they stay home," Blanchet said of Conservative MPs who might not have had their shots.
"Parliament should not come back under any kind of hybrid formation … now we know that we can go on with the way this building is supposed to work, and we should not refrain from doing so because a few persons don't believe that the vaccine works. This belongs to another century."
NDP MP Peter Julian said in a statement that because Canada is battling a fourth wave of the virus, the party wants to talk to others about continuing some of the hybrid practices when Parliament resumes.
"All of our NDP MPs are vaccinated and we’ve been very clear that federal government employees must be vaccinated too. Getting vaccinated is the right thing to do and elected leaders have a responsibility to set a good example by following public health advice," Julian said.
The Liberals and Conservatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The Conservatives saw 119 MPs, including incumbents and new candidates, elected on Sept. 20, after the party spent the race dogged by questions about its opposition to making vaccines mandatory as a tool to defeat COVID-19.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole refused to say on the campaign trail whether he knew how many of those running for the Tories had been fully vaccinated, saying he told campaign teams that those who are not immunized against COVID-19 should take daily rapid tests.
O'Toole is himself vaccinated and has been encouraging others to get their shot, but the Conservative leader says he also respects the personal health choices of Canadians and attacked Trudeau for using the issue to sow division in the country.
Conservative MPs will make their way to Ottawa next week to have their first caucus meeting since the election, where they will have to decide whether they want to review O'Toole's leadership.
The call for MPs to be vaccinated comes as Trudeau works on bringing in a mandate requiring the federal civil service, along with those working in its federally regulated industries, to be fully vaccinated.
His government has promised to make it a rule by the end of October that travellers flying or taking a train in Canada have to be immunized in order to board.
Many provinces have already introduced a vaccine passport system requiring consumers to provide proof of immunization to access non-essential businesses like restaurants and sports and entertainment venues.
"For the safety of House of Commons staff, translators, pages, security, other MPs and their staff, all parliamentarians should show proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to take their seats in the House," tweeted former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who didn't seek re-election, but served for six years in government.
As of Friday, Health Canada reported that around 79 per cent of people 12 and older as having being fully vaccinated, with about 85 per cent receiving at least one dose.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 29, 2021.
Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press
Questions remain about what the return to Parliament will look like for Canada's 338 elected representatives after the recent federal election saw the Liberals re-elected with a minority government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will name his cabinet next month and Parliament will resume sometime in the fall.
Since the pandemic hit in March 2020, the House of Commons and committees had been functioning with some MPs working from Ottawa, but many others appearing virtually, including, later on, to vote, before the election was called.
Blanchet said he wants to see Parliament resume quickly with MPs having to be fully vaccinated in order to be there in person because now vaccines against the novel coronavirus are more widely available.
His party, along with the New Democrats and Liberals, made it a rule that candidates had to be fully vaccinated in order to hit the doorsteps, but the Conservatives did not.
"They get fully vaccinated or they stay home," Blanchet said of Conservative MPs who might not have had their shots.
"Parliament should not come back under any kind of hybrid formation … now we know that we can go on with the way this building is supposed to work, and we should not refrain from doing so because a few persons don't believe that the vaccine works. This belongs to another century."
NDP MP Peter Julian said in a statement that because Canada is battling a fourth wave of the virus, the party wants to talk to others about continuing some of the hybrid practices when Parliament resumes.
"All of our NDP MPs are vaccinated and we’ve been very clear that federal government employees must be vaccinated too. Getting vaccinated is the right thing to do and elected leaders have a responsibility to set a good example by following public health advice," Julian said.
The Liberals and Conservatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The Conservatives saw 119 MPs, including incumbents and new candidates, elected on Sept. 20, after the party spent the race dogged by questions about its opposition to making vaccines mandatory as a tool to defeat COVID-19.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole refused to say on the campaign trail whether he knew how many of those running for the Tories had been fully vaccinated, saying he told campaign teams that those who are not immunized against COVID-19 should take daily rapid tests.
O'Toole is himself vaccinated and has been encouraging others to get their shot, but the Conservative leader says he also respects the personal health choices of Canadians and attacked Trudeau for using the issue to sow division in the country.
Conservative MPs will make their way to Ottawa next week to have their first caucus meeting since the election, where they will have to decide whether they want to review O'Toole's leadership.
The call for MPs to be vaccinated comes as Trudeau works on bringing in a mandate requiring the federal civil service, along with those working in its federally regulated industries, to be fully vaccinated.
His government has promised to make it a rule by the end of October that travellers flying or taking a train in Canada have to be immunized in order to board.
Many provinces have already introduced a vaccine passport system requiring consumers to provide proof of immunization to access non-essential businesses like restaurants and sports and entertainment venues.
"For the safety of House of Commons staff, translators, pages, security, other MPs and their staff, all parliamentarians should show proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to take their seats in the House," tweeted former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who didn't seek re-election, but served for six years in government.
As of Friday, Health Canada reported that around 79 per cent of people 12 and older as having being fully vaccinated, with about 85 per cent receiving at least one dose.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 29, 2021.
Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press
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