Update: August 13 noon
Central Okanagan-Simikameen-Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas spoke with AM1150 news about the federal government’s intention to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory across the federal public service.
“This is what we seem to find from Mr. Trudeau,” explains Albas. “He (Trudeau) makes these annoucements to say he’s got it covered but the devil is in the details,”
Albas says it all sounds good, but until we actually see how the mandatory vaccination plan will work, there's no telling how successful it will be.
And that unfortunately, he’s heard feedback that not all the details have been worked out.
August 13 10 a.m.
The federal government intends to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory across the federal public service, and will expect Crown corporations and other federally regulated sectors to follow suit.
In a news conference on Friday, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also announced that in the fall – by no later than the end of October – the government will require employees in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation space to be fully vaccinated.
This measure will extend to all commercial air, train, and cruise ship passengers.
“Being vaccinated makes the workplace and travel safer for everybody,” Alghabra said. “We will work closely with key stakeholders, operators, and bargaining agents in particular, to develop a measured and practical approach to requiring vaccines in these sectors as quickly as possible.”
Until now, the government has largely left decisions about proof of vaccination, and whether it should be mandatory, up to the provinces.
Earlier this week, LeBlanc, Alghabra and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino provided an update on plans to give Canadians vaccination passports for international travel, noting some form of documentation should be ready by the fall.
Alghabra said accommodations like enhanced testing and screening will be made for those who can’t be vaccinated.
- with files from CTV -