The federal government persists and signs in the file of the compulsory vaccination of its officials and its subcontractors. The benefits of this directive go beyond the concerns of those who refuse to be vaccinated and justify the consequences that may be imposed on them, argues Ottawa.
A first challenge to this directive was filed in Federal Court, revealed The duty Friday. A government contractor went to court earlier this week to suspend the imposition of compulsory vaccination on government suppliers. The attorney general responded to this in his own brief on Friday.
The Federal Court was also hearing the request for an interlocutory injunction from the complainant and his lawyer, Guy Lavergne. Judge Nicholas McHaffie took the case under advisement at the end of the day and promised a decision Friday night or Saturday morning. The case will then be heard on the merits.
Federal lawyers argue in their brief, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly said, that “the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks” of the COVID-19 vaccine that the complainant invokes in this case to justify his refusal to be vaccinated. “Given the serious health risk posed by COVID-19 and its worrying variants, the public good outweighs individual concerns,” insists the government.
The complainant, a 35-year-old technician who works in a Blainville road test center run by a private government supplier, pleads that his right to life, liberty and security guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is constrained by the vaccination obligation imposed on him by his employer, PMG Technologies, under the federal directive. The Attorney General retorts that the employee retains the choice to be vaccinated or not. No medical treatment will be forcibly administered. The complainant, however, denounces the fact that he will be dismissed if he is not vaccinated.
He argues that the federal directive will deprive him of his career. However, this career is not protected by the Charter, replied the government, and the complainant is not at risk of irreparable harm. “The complainant has the power to avoid a potential job loss by being vaccinated”, summarizes the federal brief.
A “low risk”
In his affidavit, the subcontractor referred to “risks of serious complications” and the anxiety that these cause him to explain his refusal to be vaccinated.
However, the Attorney General recalls that the risks of complications from vaccines are less than the risks of complications related to COVID-19 itself. The direct link between these and the administration of the vaccine also remains to be substantiated, notes the federal government, the incidence rate is not always higher than in the general population.
Over 58 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Canada to date. Of this number, 0.01% were accompanied by serious reactions (5650 cases). The government reports 207 deaths (0.00036%) which are “not necessarily linked to the vaccine”, against more than 29,000 deaths caused by COVID-19 and more than 89,000 hospitalizations, in particular over 6,700 in within the complainant’s age group. “Authorized vaccines pose a low risk to the complainant,” says the Attorney General.
Too uniform a directive?
The complaint further emphasizes that the federal directive, by being imposed on all external suppliers, applies to workers who are not necessarily in contact with its officials or the public. The subcontractor says he works mostly alone, outside, while the five officials of the test center are in another building or teleworking.
To this, the Attorney General responds that the risk of contact between officials and unvaccinated individuals remains, which defeats the objective of his policy which further aims to prevent a possible outbreak in his workplaces. .
Finally, the federal government argues that this subcontractor cannot contest its directive, which results from a contract between the government and a private supplier, under federal law or the Civil Code of Quebec.
The vaccination obligation also applies to 268,000 federal civil servants. The vast majority of them confirmed being fully or partially vaccinated (262,800 employees), but 1,255 reported not being vaccinated and 778 did not disclose their vaccination status. These last two groups are subject to unpaid leave as of Monday. The unions then expect the filing of grievances.