Mackenzie County Council created a procurement policy preventing COVID-19 vaccine mandated contractors and sub-contractors from working for the county..In a Feb. 17 letter, interim CAO Byron Peters said the county is “appalled by the response to COVID-19 that the many governments and corporations have evoked by repeatedly violating personal rights and freedoms..“This is a practice that is not tolerated on Mackenzie County worksites,” Peters said..“Corporate use of coercion and intimidation towards employees to dictate personal health choices are inappropriate, and we will not work with companies that tolerate or promote such behaviour.”.The policy stands in bold opposition to the many Alberta municipalities that rolled out a mandatory vaccination policy for its employees in recent months..“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.”.Peters said the policy aligns with the “values of Mackenzie County,” values which include “treats people with respect and maintains a high degree of integrity” in the county’s annual report..Mackenzie County’s approach sharply contrasts that of the City of Leduc, which mandated the vaccine for its employees..The Western Standard spoke to a City of Leduc employee who said his human rights were violated by the municipality’s roll out of the policy..He was placed on an involuntary leave with no pay despite producing both medical and religious exemptions..He spoke to the Western Standard about the hollowness of the City of Leduc ascribing to values of “diversity and inclusiveness” in its strategic plan..“You hear all this talk about diversity and inclusion nowadays and I guess it’s kind of meaningless because it only applies to certain things. So it’s not really diversity and inclusion if it doesn’t apply to someone’s religious beliefs. So the hypocrisy in that needs to change.”.Mackenzie County said it will honour existing contracts with companies mandating the vaccine, but those contracted employees will not be permitted in civic buildings or on municipal job sites..“All work must be completed remotely, or arrangements should be made to sub-contract the work to another company that does not have a mandatory vaccination policy in place.”.The county will not consider future contracts from companies with mandatory vaccine mandates..“For future work, if you have a mandatory vaccination policy in place, you will not be eligible to complete work for the county. This ineligibility will be clearly stated on all future procurement documents prior to any bids closing or contracts being awarded.”.Mackenzie County is home to La Crete, the hamlet which largely resisted the provincial government’s COVID-19 health measures, including vaccination..The La Crete Chamber of Commerce partnered with Ichor Blood Services to test the community for COVID-19 antibodies. The Mayo Clinic tests showed 89% of unvaccinated residents had some degree of natural immunity..Amber Gosselin is a Western Standard reporter..agosselin@westernstandardonline.com
