Transport Canada rated its travel vaccine mandate as aggressive and unique, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.“For the system to operate efficiently for the majority and handle all the exceptional circumstances, keep exemptions to strict vaccine mandates simple to avoid complexity and costly administrative burden for operators and travellers,” said Transport Canada in a memo. When Transport Canada enacted its travel vaccine mandate, it said it had to be quick and aggressive, noting it “would make Canada unique in the world in terms of strict vaccine mandates for domestic travel.” If Canadians were declined public services because of proof of vaccination, it said it would lead to cases of sympathetic or vulnerable ones denied travel. At the time, cabinet said its mandate was recommended by scientists. “We followed the recommendations of public health experts, doctors and scientists,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Public Health Agency of Canada never recommended vaccine mandates. Transport Canada made no mention of any recommendation. “The vast majority of unvaccinated Canadians would not be able to travel,” it said.The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has challenged the vaccine mandates as unlawful. The Federal Court of Canada dismissed the JCCF’s challenge in November as irrelevant, as they had expired in 2022. “The federal government can impose these same travel restrictions on Canadians again without notice,” said the JCCF. The JCCF said on January 11 former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford, People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, and other applicants would be seeking to appeal their vaccine mandate challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada. READ MORE: Peckford and Bernier take challenge of vaccine mandates for travel to the Supreme CourtPeckford, Bernier and the other applicants argue Canadians deserve to receive court rulings regarding any emergency orders violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.In 2021, the Canadian government required travellers of federally-regulated transportation services to show proof of vaccination, which resulted in preventing about 5.2 million Canadians from travelling by air and rail.
