Conservative delegate Patrick Wuori calls on the crowd prior to party leader Pierre Poilievre’s speech at the Conservative Party convention on September 8, 2023 in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)
Adopting this bill, Poilievre said, would be a “recognition that this ugly chapter in our history, of turning Canadians against Canadians and using a public health matter to pull apart our country, is permanently behind us.”
The Liberal government has long defended its vaccine mandate policy as a suite of measures designed to keep people safe from a deadly virus. More than 50,000 Canadians have died of COVID-19, according to public health data.
The government has said it imposed its mandates to encourage more people to take the shots, which have been credited by public health officials with helping the country emerge from the pandemic.
The vast majority of Canadians heeded public health advice and got at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. At last count, about 84 per cent of all people aged five and older are considered “fully vaccinated,” according to federal data.
In question period, Trudeau pounced on Polievre’s anti-mandate rhetoric.
He said the Conservative leader “doesn’t much care about facts” regarding Canada’s pandemic response. He said Poilievre “doesn’t truly want to accept” that most people in Canada willingly got a shot.
“He has a hidden agenda driven by ideology — an ideology rooted in denying that the government had to act fast in a once-in-a-century moment to keep Canadians safe,” Trudeau said.
“He continues to play divisive games to try and divide Canadians on a matter core to public health and public safety. We’ve always stood up for the safety of Canadians while he chooses to wear a tinfoil hat.”
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux called the Conservative approach to pandemic management “irresponsible” and “reckless.”
“Contrary to what the Conservative Party tries to espouse, vaccinations worked. Vaccinations made a difference,” he said during debate on the bill Tuesday.
“I believe that there are some who recognize the importance of public health and see the valuation of vaccinations,” Lamoureux said of Conservative MPs. “But a good portion do not, and this is from the leader down.”
Liberal MP Chris Bittle said there’s no doubt about why Poilievre is pushing this policy.
“We know who they are trying to rally to. They closed down this city for a few weeks. They closed down international borders. They tried to grind the economy to a halt,” he said of the trucker convoy.
“In another pandemic, we would not want that party in charge. It is just not worth the risk.”