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Vaccine-backed companies now say Ottawa is going too far
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June 2, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 5 minutes of reading • 107 comments WestJet has laid off 4,000 of its 14,000 employees since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with another 1,000 employees currently on leave. Air Canada has laid off 20,000 workers from its original 40,000 workforce. Photo by Daryl Dyke / The Canadian Press / File
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TOP HISTORY
As the federal government continues to impose strict strictures on COVID-19 long after it was abandoned by foreign governments, this is beginning to cause something that was largely lacking in the earlier stages of the pandemic: industry repulsion.
“The vaccine mandate for air passengers and staff must be abolished,” WestJet CEO Alexis von Honsbroch tweeted Tuesday. “Since vaccines do not prevent the spread of the virus after omicron, it no longer makes sense to maintain it.”
The vaccination mandate for air passengers and staff should be abolished. Since vaccines do not prevent the spread of the virus after #omicron, it no longer makes sense to maintain it. This will also alleviate some of the operational challenges at airports https://t.co/HGUX7XW1kB
– Alexis von Honsbroech (@AHoensbroech) May 31, 2022
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The statement came the same day as the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that COVID restrictions on the border would be extended until at least June 30.
For another month, anyone who enters Canada will be randomly tested and will have to prove their vaccination status by uploading their immunization data (including the type and date of vaccination) to the ArriveCAN smartphone app.
In addition, federal authorities still adhere to mandates that prohibit unvaccinated Canadians from boarding a commercial aircraft, either as a passenger or crew member.
PHAC’s mandates have been extended, although a chorus of industry groups have asked Ottawa to back down from COVID’s restrictions, in part because it has accelerated the devastating waiting time at Canadian airports.
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Just last week, the International Air Transport Association hinted that Ottawa should suspend the ArriveCAN application and raise the mandate for airline vaccine vaccines to curb “huge delays in immigration and security.”
“Passengers on almost every second international arrival flight have been subject to immigration delays, which in some cases include waiting on the plane for up to three hours before being allowed to disembark,” the statement said.
We fully support this urgent request by the Canadian Government to take immediate action to reduce the massive delays in immigration and security. Travelers need predictability and should not be subjected to unacceptable waiting times. https://t.co/J7nO2deAyI
– IATA (@IATA) June 1, 2022
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The Canadian Airport Council similarly blamed the pandemic measures on serious backups at Canadian entry points. On Tuesday, the Mississauga Industrial Council, the site of Toronto’s Pearson Airport, called on the federal government to urgently reduce COVID checks at the airport so as not to have irreparable consequences for the Canadian economy.
“The recent trip will have devastating and lasting effects on the way our region is perceived internationally and has a negative impact on new international investment in the Toronto region,” said Victoria Clark, CEO of Tourism Mississauga.
Canada is fast emerging as an international emergency when it comes to COVID’s restrictions on air passengers. The United Kingdom, for example, has completely abolished all testing requirements and vaccines at its border. The European Union has abolished the mandates for commercial flight masks. Even Australia has opened domestic air travel for its unvaccinated.
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It should be noted that on the same day that Canada extended its border mandates for another month, Italy – once home to some of Europe’s toughest blocking measures – lifted all COVID requirements for arriving passengers.
WestJet’s differences are even more pronounced, given that the airline – and von Honsbroch himself – are enthusiastic supporters of vaccine mandates.
Just five months ago, the airline fired nearly 300 employees for failing to show proof of vaccination in accordance with federal mandates. Von Honsbroch, who was CEO of Austrian Airlines before February, tweeted in November, saying that “only vaccination will get us out of the pandemic!”
But he was far from the only atypical critic who signaled his opposition to Ottawa’s COVID position. On Tuesday, Toronto Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith publicly called for his own government’s adherence to travel mandates, saying “the two-dose vaccine mandate without accommodation is no longer justified.”
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I refrained from the Conservatives’ proposal to return to pre-pandemic travel measures immediately.
I did not support the idea of throwing masks right away, but I also made it clear to the government that the mandate for two doses of vaccine without accommodation is no longer justified. / 1
– Nate Erskin-Smith (@beynate) May 31, 2022
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As early as February, Canadian public health officials began to signal that vaccine mandates had lost their usefulness as a result of new and more infectious variants capable of spreading among those immunized – a key factor in the decision of all 10 provinces to repeal vaccine mandates. close spaces.
On February 17, Ontario Chief Medical Officer Kieran Moore said, “The need for vaccination policies in the Ontario sectors, whether in health care or in colleges and universities, is no longer necessary.”
A Russian-owned Antonov An-124, much like the one pictured above, is still trapped on the runway at Toronto Pearson Airport. The cargo plane had the misfortune to land in Toronto just as Canada banned Russian planes from its airspace, making Antonov’s takeoff illegal. According to Daily Hive, the unplanned stay of the plane costs its owners over $ 1,000 a day in asphalt fees. Photo by Wikimedia Commons
IN OTHER NEWS
Ottawa has granted BC’s request to temporarily decriminalize the possession of heavy drugs for personal use. Although he was hailed first as a North American, he mostly codified the fact that British Columbia police had not actually arrested low-level drug users in a long time. Victoria Del Manac, the police chief, for example, responded to the news by saying that “for years VicPD has been of the opinion that addiction and substance use are a health problem.”
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I bet you didn’t know Tuesday was the day of the vulva and vagina. This is the Liberal MP Pam Damoff, who announces this in the House of Commons. Damoff said he would host a celebration to “celebrate the vulva and vagina as powerful and important.” Photo by CPAC
Today is the election in Ontario! In principle, every sociologist is already calling for a majority government for Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives. Interestingly, however, personal computers have maintained their lead despite the rise of far-right options such as the New Blue Party, which are now up to 5 percent. This seems to indicate that computers are gaining liberal votes roughly in tandem with those bleeding in the New Blue Party and the Ontario Party.
With the expiration of Jason Kenny as Prime Minister of Alberta, the fortunes of his United Conservative Party began to grow. After months of lagging behind the NDP in terms of voter support, a new Leger study found that the UCP without Kenny recovered to a slight lead of 42 percent (up from 40 percent for the NDP).
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Western Standard, meanwhile, has heard rumors that Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner may be considering a proposal to take over from Kenny. Garner was a staunch supporter of Erin O’Toole before he was shown the door to his caucus, and she later backed Patrick Brown’s long-running campaign to replace O’Toole. In other words, it wouldn’t be a terrible time for Garner to leave Ottawa and try his hand at some provincial politics.
In Saskatchewan, Saskatoon StarPhoenix columnist Phil Tank believes their Prime Minister Scott Mo will soon be ousted by the same conservative struggles they did in Kenny. If that happens, it will cause three Canadian conservative leaders to be removed from power in about that month.
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