An Ontario judge has told a Brampton father involved in a custody dispute he is not allowed to badmouth the federal government’s vaccination policy within earshot of his 10-year-old son, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Anything that “calls into question the safety or efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine” is not allowed, ruled Ontario Superior Court..“I find (the boy) is receiving mixed messages about the risks and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine and that at 10 years of age he is unable to make an informed choice,” wrote Justice Francine Van Melle..The court granted the urgent motion sought by the boy’s mother..Court records showed the couple divorced in 2013. The mother, a teacher, wanted the boy immunized since “she is worried about sending the child back to school for in-person learning next week without him being vaccinated,” court was told..Van Melle noted the father complained “the government was forcing people to be vaccinated against COVID,” that “there is no benefit to children to receive the COVID vaccine” and that he wanted to “wait until further evidence is available regarding the safety of the vaccine.”.Van Melle agreed the mother could vaccinate her son, and went further in issuing a gag order prohibiting the father from questioning the immunization program with his son..“He is not to tell or suggest to (the boy) directly or indirectly that COVID-19 vaccines are untested, unsafe or ineffective or that he is particularly at risk from them,” wrote Van Melle..“He shall not permit any other person to have any such discussion to make any suggestion to (his son) directly or indirectly. He is prohibited from showing the child websites, other online information, literature or any other material that calls into question the safety or efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine or to permit any other person to do so.”.The order follows a December 23 ruling by a Québec Superior Court judge who suspended weekend visitation rights to prevent an unvaccinated father from seeing his fully immunized 12-year old son..“The best interests of the child must guide the court,” wrote Justice Sebastien Vaillancourt, of Montréal..“The child is vaccinated so he has some protection against the virus. Is this enough to allow him to rub shoulders with his father? The court finds this is not the case.”.The Department of Health on November 19 approved a Pfizer-BioNtech vaccination for children aged 5 to 11. Only 3% percent of eligible youngsters are fully vaccinated to date..“The vaccination rate for kids 5 to 12 is too low in Canada,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday..“It means not only are kids more vulnerable, but all of society, whether it’s teachers, whether it’s grandparents, whether it’s front line health workers risking getting overwhelmed when those people start to get sick.”
