Ontario not considering tax for unvaccinated individuals, top doctor says
Ontario’s top doctor says the province will not introduce a tax for individuals who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 a day after Quebec introduced a similar measure in an effort to monetarily support its health-care system.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore made the comment during a news conference about the return to in-person learning in Ontario schools next week.
He said that such a recommendation has not been made to government throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and that the public health measure is not one he and his team would bring forward for consideration.
“It does, in my mind, seem punitive,” Dr. Moore said. “Only in the highest-risk settings have we mandated it, and that was in the long-term care facilities where all of us have realized the increased death rate, the increased risk of severe outcomes [of COVID-19] had to be balanced by maximizing immunization and protection of those individuals.”
“That is as far as this government has gone in terms of mandating vaccination and putting a penalty on those who have not been vaccinated has not been entertained by this government,” Moore said.
Premier Doug Ford doubled down on Dr. Moore’s comments during a tour of a vaccination clinic in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon and said Ontario is taking a “different approach” to drive up vaccination rates.
“We aren’t going down that road,” Ford said after being asked about Quebec’s tax for the unvaccinated. “I implore, I ask, I beg, every single person that’s not vaccinated, please, protect yourself, protect your family, protect coworkers, please get your vaccination, that’s the best way we can defend against Omicron or any of the variants.”
On Tuesday, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the new measure, which he described as a "health-care contribution,” for people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for non-medical reasons.
The Quebec government is currently consulting with the finance minister and its legal advisers about implementing the measure, but Legault has said that a $50 or $100 tax "is not significant" enough for him.
Meanwhile, health officials in British Columbia said Tuesday that its provincial government has no plans to demand payment from the unvaccinated.
Last week, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos suggested that provinces and territories should consider mandating vaccinations as he said the nation’s health-care system is stretched “too thin” amid an Omicron-fuelled wave of COVID-19 infections.
As of Tuesday, 91.2 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 88.5 per cent have two doses and are considered by the government to be fully vaccinated.
With files from CTV News Montreal’s Joe Lofaro
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.