As many as 27,000 Canadian Federal Government workers are yet to confirm their COVID-19 vaccination status, leaving them with two weeks to get the shot or face suspension.
The deadline for Public Servants to attest that they had been vaccinated has passed.
Public Servants who don’t sign the attestation or aren’t vaccinated have until 15 November to do so before they could be suspended without pay.
If they have received at least one dose by 15 November, they will have another 10 weeks to get a second dose before again facing suspension.
Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau said exemptions for medical or religious reasons would be granted only in rare circumstances.
Mr Trudeau also said the attestations would be audited to ensure people had not lied about their vaccination status.
“The attestation for the Public Service is the first step. There will be severe consequences for anyone who is found to have been misrepresenting themselves,” Mr Trudeau said.
“If you want to continue to work for the Public Service in Canada, you’re going to need to be fully vaccinated,” he said.
Meanwhile, a group claiming to represent around 1,400 Government employees has sent a letter to the head of the British Columbia Public Service objecting to the Province’s vaccine mandate, three weeks before the deadline for Public Servants to get vaccinated.
The Provincial Government had previously announced that any of its almost 30,000 workers who were not vaccinated by 22 November would face suspension.
The group, calling itself BC Public Service Employees for Freedom, sent the letter to Deputy Minister, Lori Wanamaker (pictured).
The group called on the Province to demonstrate its legal authority for implementing the mandate; demanded that it take responsibility if anyone vaccinated suffered side effects; claimed mandate was a threat to employees’ privacy and violated consent laws.
“We respect and support the need for the BC Public Service to maintain safe workplaces,” the group said.
“However, coerced vaccination with the threat of job loss is neither acceptable, necessary nor justified,” it said.
Ottawa, 3 November 2021
