Department of Transport lawyers coached airlines on how to reject Canadians’ requests for vaccine waivers on religious grounds, according to Access To Information memos. Even passengers with legitimate claims were to be challenged every time they switched flights, wrote staff..“In other words, a temporary exemption by one airline does not automatically allow the passenger to connect with a different airline or to transfer modes, e.g. from train to plane or from one airline to the next,” said a confidential November 22 memo Federal Vaccine Mandate: Guidelines On Requirements..“These types of exemptions are anticipated to be granted very rarely,” said a follow-up November 30 memo. Cabinet that day introduced Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements stating passengers would be required to show proof of COVID shots to board a commercial flight. The vaccine mandate ended June 20..According to Blacklock's Reporter, the transport department memos went beyond Treasury Board guidelines or a landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling on religious freedoms. Data show within federal departments 26% of requests for religious exemptions were approved, totaling 540 of 2,042..“The validity of the belief itself must not be challenged,” the Treasury Board wrote in an October 8 memo. “The requirement is to focus on the sincerity of the individual belief rooted in religion not whether it is recognized by other members of the same religion.”.The Supreme Court in a 2004 decision Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem ruled the government “is in no position to be, nor should it become, the arbiter of religious dogma.” The 5-4 decision came in the case of Orthodox Jewish tenants at a Montréal condo who were accused of breaching bylaws when they installed temporary prayer shelters on their balconies..“Sincerity of belief simply implies an honesty of belief and the court’s role is to ensure that a presently asserted belief is in good faith,” Justice Frank Iacobucci wrote for the Court’s majority. Convictions did not have to be consistent or even comply with teachings of religious leaders, he wrote..The transport department in memos to airlines and railways spelled out methods to challenge religious claims. “Leaders and members of many religious and religious denominations have released public statements indicating their support for the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote staff..“Religion typically involves a particular and comprehensive system of faith and worship as well as the belief in a divine, superhuman or controlling power. ‘I don’t believe in vaccination’ would not in itself be a reason,” wrote staff..“It is not sufficient for the passenger to state they have a certain religious belief and they cannot be vaccinated,” said one memo. “They must explain how vaccination would conflict with their religious belief in a way that is not trivial or insubstantial, meaning being vaccinated conflicts with the genuine connection with the divine.”.“There are a number of false empirical beliefs about the development, the contents, effects or purpose of the vaccines,” wrote staff. “These are not however grounds on which a temporary exemption can be granted.”.“For example, a conviction the COVID-19 vaccine contains aborted human or animal fetal cells or that DNA is altered by mRNA vaccines is empirically incorrect and should not be used as a rationale for the granting of a religious exemption even were this belief is sincerely held or rooted in religion,” wrote staff..The Department of Transport to date has not detailed how many passengers applied for religious waivers, how many were denied, or how many were denied boarding for declining to show proof of vaccination.
