'No more nonsense': Ontario Liberals call on government to get tough on anti-vaxxers
Ontario’s Liberal Party is calling on the provincial government to make vaccines mandatory for transit passengers, as well as eligible students and employees who interact with customers as the fourth wave of COVID-19 continues to climb.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said the Ontario government should adopt an aggressive approach as it tries to convince the remaining eligible residents to get their first dose of the vaccine while combating “anti-science misinformation” with legislation that would restrict protests.
“No more nonsense. No more exceptions. No more delay,” Del Duca said, suggesting people are losing patience with Premier Doug Ford’s “softness on public safety.”
Del Duca says the government should convene a meeting of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police to deal with “anti-vaccine abuse, harassment and violence” and create an “exclusion zone” around hospitals entrance to ensure protesters don’t prevent staff and patients from accessing healthcare.
The provincial party believes the criminal code should be strengthened in order to combat the anti-vaccine demonstrations and said the Ford government needs to take a similar approach.
“If you choose to go in a different direction in this province and you’re going to break the law and step over that line, there are going to be consequences,” Del Duca said.
At the same time, Del Duca says he can empathize with people from racialized communities who have “understandable angst” and “legitimate hesitation” about the vaccine based on historical circumstances that led to mistrust of government.
Del Duca suggested, however, the government should still take a hardline approach to those who are vaccine resistant by preventing them from boarding provincially-regulated transit systems such as GO trains and busses to protect other vaccinated passengers.
“I am extremely empathetic to those individuals who have legitimate vaccine hesitancy … including people who come from racialized communities,” Del Duca said. “But, on balance, we need to be in a spot where we get through this pandemic and get to the other side.”
The Liberals are also calling on the province to eliminate the testing requirements for health-care and education workers who refuse to get vaccinated, and do not have a medical exemption.
Del Duca also said the vaccine passport system, set to be implemented in Ontario on Sept. 22, should also apply to employees who interact with customers. Workers are currently excluded from the requirements.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.