(Ottawa) While saying he wants to respect provincial jurisdictions, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole affirms his opposition to the idea of imposing a tax on adults who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Posted at 6:22 p.m.
Mr. O’Toole made known his position on Quebec Premier François Legault’s idea during a “live” session on Facebook.
Earlier this week, Mr. Legault announced that non-vaccinated Quebec adults who do not have a medical exemption will have to pay a health contribution, the amount of which will be “significant”.
The Premier of Quebec says that this measure is necessary because the unvaccinated currently occupy 50% of intensive care beds, although they represent only 10% of the population.
Mr. O’Toole who opposes compulsory vaccination says that this measure would be unfair. He does not believe that she will convince the hesitant to go and be inoculated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been cautious in saying he wants to wait to know the terms of such a measure before expressing an opinion. He said Quebec has already indicated its intention to comply with the Canada Health Act.
For his part, Mr. O’Toole said that Mr. Legault’s idea did not correspond to the Canadian strategy on health care. He added that it was easy to divide people when they are scared.
“Vaccinated people are increasingly frustrated to see a small group of people preventing the rest of the country from moving forward,” he said in English.
According to him, the fault of the new confinements lies with Justin Trudeau who failed in his mission to provide more rapid antigenic tests and more protective equipment to the population.