Ford Caves To Anti-Vaxxers And Refuses To Make Vaccinations Mandatory In Education

• “Only a strong policy mandating vaccinations will make our classrooms safe in September, so that we can keep Ontario’s schools and economy open.” A Statement from Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca Posted  August 21st. 2021 on Niagara At Large TORONTO – Ontario Liberal Leader, Steven Del Duca issued the following statement: “A fourth wave has begun and schools are about to return, and Doug Ford is pandering to anti-vaxxers and failing to deliver mandatory vaccines for education workers. Ontario Liberals are calling on Ford to immediately stop his political games and make vaccination mandatory for frontline workers in education, and for all MPPs. Ontario Liberal Leaader Steven Del Duca A mandatory vaccination disclosure and mandatory testing simply isn’t the same thing as mandatory vaccination, and his anti-science policy is going to put our most vulnerable kids at risk. As the father of two daughters – one who’s too young to be vaccinated – I will not stand by and watch Doug Ford send our children back to unsafe schools just to appease his anti-vaxxer supporters. Anti-science half-measures and flip flopping from Doug Ford and Andrea Horwath have done nothing to help boost vaccination rates on the frontlines. Only a strong policy mandating vaccinations will make our classrooms safe in September, so that we can keep Ontario’s schools and economy open. Only Ontario Liberals can be trusted to fight for mandatory vaccinations for education workers and MPPs.”

  A Brief Afterword from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large –

The Ontario’s Liberal Leader’s reference in the statement above to Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath “flip flopping on the question of mandatory vaccines for teachers stems from an interview Horwath did with CBC early this August.

When asked in that interview if she supports mandatory vaccination for teachers, she fell short of an full-out mandatory policy in that she respects an individual’s “charter right” to refuse vaccination.

Within 48 hours of that interview, she issued a statement saying; “I regret the comment. I was wrong. … “I fully support mandatory vaccination in health care and education, based on science and public health priorities.”

One can only speculate that Horwath’s first response to the mandatory vaccine question for teachers may have been a result to the Ontario NDP’s historic close ties with the province’s teachers unions, often causing the party to genuflect to teacher union demands. Her response also came at a time when at least one or two of the unions representing Ontario’s teachers were still expressing mixed feelings about mandatory vaccination.

Since then the Ontario Teacher’s Federation, an umbrella group for the province’s teacher’s unions, has reportedly come out in favour of mandatory vaccination for teachers.

One lessons that should come out of this for Horwath and her NDP members is this – when it comes to choosing the sides of teachers’ unions and the greater good, to the extent that there are any conflicts between the two, side with the greater good every time.

In a new era where so many younger votes are precariously employed and can hardly dream of ever being a member of a union, that may be one of the party’s best bets for remaining relevant in to the future.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

To read a CBC report on this issue, click on – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/horwath-criticized-for-opposing-mandatory-education-worker-vaccines-1.6130971

To read a recent story Niagara At Large posted on the Ontario NDP’s call for mandatory vaccination for teachers and other education workers, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2021/08/19/ontarios-ndp-leader-repeats-call-for-mandatory-vaccinations-for-teachers-education-workers-as-first-school-day-looms/

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