Ottawa:
Canada’s vaccine authorization to parliament is helping Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exploit divisions within the opposition Conservative Party, some of whose lawmakers will be shut down when the House of Commons reconvenes next week.
Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, who came second in the September 20 vote, was unable to convince part of his caucus to be vaccinated, meaning they would not be included. House of Representatives when it reopens November 22
The party declined to say how many members of parliament were unvaccinated. O’Toole encouraged the use of vaccines and said his MPs would follow House rules, but some leading figures in his party wanted the condition.
Party splits are weakening O’Toole as he struggles to stave off leadership review. A Conservative senator on Monday launched a petition aimed at ousting O’Toole within six months, saying he was a poor and unreliable leader.
To appease the far-right in his party, O’Toole opposed vaccine regulations during the campaign and allowed his candidates to remain unvaccinated even though most Bao All players accept vaccines.
Shachi Kurl, executive director of Angus Reid Research Institute, said: “The issue of vaccinations is coming back and again and again to the (Conservative) party as its worst liability.
O’Toole is “a leader who clearly doesn’t feel that he can push back forcefully against the liberal, liberal-minded segment of the Conservative caucus,” she said. added.
49-year-old Trudeau narrowly won the vote in September and ended up in a minority, elevating the power of opposition parties and forcing him to depend on them to pass legislation.
But the other two main opposition parties sided with the Liberals on a vaccine, isolating the Conservatives in what a senior government source called a “dangerous and risky” position on COVID-19 as cases spike again across the country.
Addressing his MPs for the first time since last week’s election, Trudeau criticized the Conservatives for “standing up against vaccinations, against science, against each other’s existence. “
Trudeau’s tough stance on vaccine mandates is putting about 13,000 public employees on unpaid leave because they refuse to vaccinate, a move enjoyed by 70% of Canadians, according to a recent EKOS Research poll by EKOS Research. favors, according to a recent EKOS Research poll.
About 85% of eligible Canadians have been immunized.
In the US Congress, CNN reported that all Democrats are vaccinated, while some Republicans openly say they are not. Congress has a requirement for a mask, but no requirement for a vaccine. Canada also has a mask requirement while in parliament.
Conservative lawmaker Marilyn Gladu, who challenged O’Toole in the party leadership race last year, is forming a 15- to 30-member “civil liberties” working group to protect privacy and a “reasonable accommodation” for unvaccinated workers.
Leslyn Lewis, who also ran for party leader last year, tweeted her opposition to the vaccine mandate, as did several others.
Garry Keller, a former senior conservative who is now vice president of public affairs consulting firm Strategy Corp, said it was perfectly appropriate to quietly discuss differences in closed-door meetings. fit.
“But in general, this is a losing issue among the vast majority of Canadian voters, so why would you want to go down this route?”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
