Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole refuses to explain the absence of at least four of his MPs in the House of Commons since the passage of a recent motion strengthening the mandatory vaccination policy against COVID-19 in this location .
On Friday, November 26, Liberals and NDP voted in favor of the hybrid parliament format, which allows elected officials to attend proceedings in person or remotely. Those who decide to participate in person should be fully immunized. And those with a medical exemption had to have it cross-checked to be compatible with Ontario health rules.
Since then, MPs Ted Falk, Cathay Wagantall, Dean Allison and Colin Carrie have not been seen in person in the Commons. And when the time came to vote on Bill C-2 last Thursday, they did so virtually.
Asked about this subject at a press conference on Monday morning, Mr. O’Toole instead invited journalists to question his absent deputies.
“Like I said, all of our MPs are going to follow the rules. If you have questions for the four deputies, ask the questions, but as leader, I said that it is very important for all Canadians to be vaccinated, ”said the Conservative leader.
At least two unvaccinated preservatives
MM. Allison and Carrie have both said in the past that they are not vaccinated because they have a medical exemption that prevents them from doing so.
Mr Falk and Ms Wagantall have consistently refused to disclose their immunization status in public.
Monday afternoon, the four MPs had not responded to questions from The Canadian Press about their absence in the Commons for the past few days.
Since the resumption of work, the Conservatives have always maintained that they favored a return to the Commons in person rather than the hybrid format and do not hesitate to boo the ministers who appear, via their screens, during question period. But their leader defended the choice of his own deputies to use virtual tools to participate in parliamentary work.
“As the rules change, on the hill we’re always going to make sure we don’t just obey, but surpass those rules. MPs have the ability to access the Hybrid Parliament […] and all MPs have that flexibility if they’re not in Ottawa, as long as the hybrid is available, ”said O’Toole, in English.
He did not want to say whether these four deputies participate in a virtual way in the debates because of their vaccination status.