(Ottawa) Conservative MPs vaccinated against COVID-19 are not moved by the prospect that their colleagues who are not vaccinated will be denied the right to vote.
Monday is the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons. However, the election of the one who arbitrates the work in the Commons is done by secret ballot, and in person. And as of November 22, only those vaccinated will have access to the parliamentary buildings in Ottawa.
Conservative parliamentary leader Gérard Deltell, like his colleague Alain Rayes, Quebec lieutenant of Erin O’Toole, shrugged the shoulders at the limits imposed on their unvaccinated colleagues.
They recalled that the rule is known to all. And they made it clear that those who want to run for the Commons need only get the shot.
Conservative MP Yvon Godin is running for Speaker of the House. Thursday morning, he still hoped that there would be a way to accommodate his colleagues so that he could fill up on Conservative votes. Two Liberal MPs – the current President Anthony Rota and the Quebecer Alexandra Mendes – are vying for the votes of theirs.
The Principal Clerk of the House, Jeffrey LeBlanc, does not believe that a vote excluding a certain number of MPs would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the president thus elected.
At the last count of The Canadian Press, 36 Conservative MPs refused to say whether they were vaccinated or not. The Conservative leadership refuses to give the number of unvaccinated people. Thursday morning, Mr. Deltell said he simply ignored it. Its leader refused once again on Wednesday afternoon to say whether or not he knows this number.
The authorities of the Communes are hardly more transparent. It is impossible to know how many MPs have not yet presented proof of vaccination. However, it was announced that it is the staff of the Sergeant-at-Arms who will have to ensure, from Monday, that no unvaccinated elected official enters the parliamentary buildings.