Everyone has understood that the “significant” contribution imposed on the non-vaccinated will in no way compensate for the damage that their irresponsibility causes to the health network and to society as a whole.
Either way, this wrong is incalculable. Colleague Francis Vailles, from Press, established that the unvaccinated cost a million a day in health care, but how to estimate the harm caused to the one who will not receive the care that his condition requires because it was necessary to give priority to a “taouin” unvaccinated who contracted COVID-19?
Prime Minister Legault had to appease the anger of all those who can no longer see that the obstinacy of a small minority makes the sacrifices they themselves make unnecessary. To tolerate her any longer would backfire.
Notice, the idea that one is allowed to put the health of others at risk just by paying a “contribution” is hardly less shocking than being able to do so with impunity.
Unsurprisingly, Quebec solidaire denounced a “radical” measure, which will hit hard the most vulnerable unvaccinated. Still, they would have to already fill out an income tax return or have a fixed address.
It is true that a single rate would favor the well-off over those who are less so. Modulation according to income would certainly be more equitable, but it would probably be more dissuasive to deny unvaccinated access to all goods and services that are not essential.
We were already seeing an increase in requests for a first dose before Mr. Legault announced his intention to impose a financial penalty. This threat will undoubtedly convince others, but there will always be a hard core of diehards that nothing can bring home.
It matters little moreover. The main thing is to maintain a general level of adherence to sanitary measures sufficient to avoid the worst while waiting for the wave to ebb. Stricting against the unvaccinated becomes a condition of this adherence.
According to the January 10 edition of ” tracker »North American of Léger, Quebecers are more favorable than elsewhere in Canada to the imposition of the vaccination passport, whether in malls and retail stores (72%), alcohol or cannabis stores managed by the State (73%) or public transport (65%).
It is also in Quebec – and in the Atlantic provinces – that the population is most satisfied with the health measures implemented by the various levels of government, whether at the federal level (63%) or the provincial level (65%).
Such a high level is remarkable after almost two years of a pandemic and conflicting messages, but the trend is clearly on the downside, and this is likely to accelerate if a small minority is tolerated to sabotage the collective effort. We could say that the imposition of a contribution to the unvaccinated responds as well to a health imperative as to the electoral interest of the CAQ.
It is not yet done. For the moment, this is simply an intention whose details, which are the devil’s favorite hiding place, remain unknown, and the Legault government has accustomed us to spectacular setbacks.
With the majority he has, he will have no difficulty in getting the new tax approved by the National Assembly, but it will certainly be challenged in court. Already, Professor Louis-Philippe Lampron, of Laval University, sees it as a “serious” violation of fundamental rights.
Equal to himself, Justin Trudeau has avoided getting wet, but the mainstream English-language media have already started to prosecute a “punitive” and “discriminatory” measure as Quebec is used to in their eyes.
The cries of orchard coming from English Canada are unlikely to impress Mr. Legault much. On the contrary, anything that seems to call into question the legitimacy of the choices made by Quebec reinforces the autonomist positions of the CAQ.
Opposition parties should think twice before going up to the barricades. A large majority of voters are likely to agree that taxing the unvaccinated is a great idea. According to the new PLQ health spokesperson, Monsef Derraji, the government should instead order compulsory vaccination. Good luck !
Whether we like it or not, with less than nine months of the next election, the “taouin tax” will inevitably become an issue. Before announcing it, Mr. Legault surely thought about it.