What are the risks of politicizing compulsory vaccination? | Canada elections 2021

The Liberal leader earlier, during his morning press conference, criticized his main opponent for his stance on compulsory vaccination.

It would be great if governors in Erin O’Toole would take the same stance we do in enforcing vaccinations in a way that is mandatory for public service, for everyone who boards a plane or train. It would be the right thing. Unfortunately, they do not have this position. They are not there to defend the safety of CanadiansThis is what Justin Trudeau told the media.

claims to support Archaeology Rebel officials, without specifying any of them. Erin O’Toole encourages vaccination, but suggests alternatives for those who refuse to receive injections, such as screening tests.

The conservative position is similar to that of the Canadian Public Service Alliance opposed to disciplinary action and was advocated until recently by the Treasury Board, before it was called by Justin Trudeau. wrong.

The liberal leader is looking for a comparison, but at what cost?

The right arena?

The political scientist Olivier Jacques sees a bad eye liberal strategy. He fears that some Canadians are interfering for partisan reasons and thus interfering with the country’s vaccination process. He said unvaccinated conservative voters could choose not to receive their injection because it would be Do what the Liberal Party wants of them, so they don’t get the shot.

I think liberals don’t do this for public health. They do it to score points, simply because the vaccination passport is very popular, and compulsory vaccination too.

Vaccination should not be part of the election campaign, slice Roxane Borgès Da Silva, director of the Department of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy at the University of Montreal’s School of Public Health.

According to her, we should avoid creating a dichotomy over compulsory vaccination, which will have the consequence of paying Voters of one party in one direction and voters of another party in the other.

Vaccination is for everyone and is independent of politics.

We are out of politics. We are really on very important public health issues Ms. Borges da Silva confirms.

Not all of this view. Brian Williams-Jones, director of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Montreal, believes the health debate can move society forward.

A political campaign is an opportunity to talk about real issues and to interest the public in something important.Mr. Williams-Jones argues.

He points out that opposition to vaccination, according to the emerging scientific literature, is often rooted in misunderstandings of the science and the issues. In his opinion, debate among politicians, if done well, can educate citizens. It will touch on ethical issues, we will talk about values ​​and responsibility, Illustrates.

American politicization

According to Olivier Jacques, the politicization of the vaccination issue in the United States should serve as a warning to Canadian politicians.

If we compare ourselves to the United States, Republican voters are vaccinated very little, so we have a very low vaccination rate in the red states. This is a problem because the issue was polarized from the startexposes.

Brian Williams-Jones recalls that the Canadian context is very different from the United States, where there are only two major parties.

With four or five major political parties in Canada, with more political diversity, there is much less risk of a split between “pro” and “opposition”. he thinks.

According to him, the election campaign is the time to collectively reflect on this important issue. What company would we like to own? Asked.

Justin Trudeau believes the campaign will be an opportunity to promote vaccination and he intends to continue to hone his message. People need to keep vaccinating. This is how we will get through the fourth waveHe said on the sidelines of a party event on Tuesday.