UCP MLA Dan Williams said vaccine mandates should never have been implemented and encouraged private and public sector employers to reverse “divisive ideological mandates.”.The Peace River MLA told the Western Standard Wednesday the mandates have “been devastating to families that have lost jobs.” He acknowledged the “thousands” of Albertans out of work over vaccine mandates..Williams also acknowledged “more work (needs) to be done (to reverse vaccine mandates), especially when it comes to public sector employees, especially when it comes to Alberta Health Services employees.”.He is optimistic, however, that municipal governments will follow the provincial government’s lead and lift vaccine mandates for employees..“I think everyone can see that if the logic doesn’t work for the vaccine passport program, it surely doesn’t work for any other vaccine-mandated employment spaces either,” he said..In Williams’ constituency, Mackenzie County Council bucked the trend of municipalities mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees. In fact, the council recently created a procurement policy preventing COVID-19 vaccine-mandated contractors and sub-contractors from working for the county..“Mackenzie County does not tolerate mandatory vaccinations or any other discriminatory requirements for any employee, contractor, or sub-contractor at Mackenzie County workplaces or for any work sites within Mackenzie County,” said a County statement..When the Western Standard asked Williams if the county’s policy got the UCP’s attention, he said “I think that policy got a lot of people’s attention.”.He said he thinks the county would view vaccine mandates as “unfair to their ratepayers and our citizens, and we should be moving past it.”.He thinks most private sector companies will reverse their vaccine mandate policies to avoid getting “caught in some political fight.”.“I personally think when it comes to vaccine mandates from these employers, they shouldn’t have implemented them in the first place. There was no requirement to do so from the provincial government or federal government,” he said..He also said the private sector should reverse vaccine mandates..“My message to those employers…let’s be fair to those individuals (including)…the army of blue-collar hard-working Albertans.”.He encouraged private sector employers “to not be part of divisive ideological mandates, but instead follow the data, follow the science…and support those individuals who have made personal health choices and move past this.”.In a video posted to his Facebook, Williams and his colleagues, Cardston-Siksika MLA Joseph Schow and Banff-Kananaskis MLA Miranda Rosin spoke out against vaccine mandates at Tuesday’s Throne Speech Convoy protest at the Edmonton Legislature grounds..In his Member’s Statement in the Assembly Wednesday, Williams said his constituents use “unparliamentary” language to describe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but hinted the language rhymes with “trucker.”.Amber Gosselin is a Western Standard reporter..agosselin@westernstandardonline.com
