Ontario has rolled back its vaccine passport, but the unvaccinated that work on Parliament Hill still can’t return to in-person work. .The Board of Internal Economy (BOIE), an all-party committee that governs the House of Commons, decided that vaccines are mandatory for everyone entering Parliamentary precinct buildings, who don’t have a medical exemption, as of Nov. 22. .Parliament’s vaccine mandate is currently set to expire on June 23, and the BOIE would need to rule to end it earlier, said Heather Bradley, director of communications for House Speaker Anthony Rota, who chairs the BOIE..The mandate was decided at an Oct. 19 meeting, in which Gérard Deltell and Blake Richards, the two Conservative MPs on the Board at the time, abstained from voting..Per the meeting minutes, the ruling was made “to meet ongoing recommendations from public health authorities to help limit the spread of COVID-19 within the work environment.”.Yet, Ontario scrapped its vaccine passport system in restaurants, gyms, and movie theatres on March 1. And as of Monday, vaccination and testing policies for workers in schools, child-care settings, hospitals and long-term care were also lifted. .The province says individual organizations will have the authority to keep their own requirements in place..One unvaccinated political staffer told the Western Standard she’s unable to enter her place of work over what seems like an arbitrary decision made by the BOIE. Her medical exemption, which was signed by a doctor, was not considered because she wasn’t willing to disclose the specific reasons for her exemption, which she said is a breach of her privacy rights..“It feels punitive,” said the source, who was granted anonymity so her office didn’t receive backlash. .On Thursday, the board also moved to loosen some restrictions — such as to allow guests to return to Parliament in the coming months — yet unvaccinated employees can’t return, she said, adding “it’s completely irrational.”.Also on Thursday, the BOIE extended masking requirements in all Parliamentary buildings until June 23. .The Ontario government will largely end mandatory masking on March 21, except for places like public transit, long-term care, jails, retirement homes and other health-care settings..All remaining mask rules in Ontario will lift on April 27, and remaining emergency orders and directives will be removed, or expire..On Friday, NDP Health critic Don Davies and NDP Finance critic Daniel Blaikie said Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, must re-evaluate public health measures as she’s previously suggested, now that the Omicron wave is receding and protesters have left Ottawa. .“The objective of federal vaccine mandates was to ensure that as many Canadians as possible get the vaccine,” the pair said in a letter to Tam..“It is reasonable to question whether, at this point, vaccine mandates are effective or will convince anyone who is not already vaccinated to change their position. In addition, there is now a considerable amount of data to warrant a re-examination of important issues including border measures, exposure-acquired immunity, transmissibility, vaccine options and booster programs, to name a few.”.Rachel Emmanuel is a Parliamentary reporter for the Western Standard based in Ottawa
