LILLEY: Court records show Trudeau brought in vaccine mandates for travel purely based on politics - Toronto Sun

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Publishing date:

Aug 10, 2022  •  August 10, 2022  •  3 minute read  •  238 Comments
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement on Bowen Island in British Columbia, Canada, July 19, 2022.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement on Bowen Island in British Columbia, Canada, July 19, 2022. Photo by JENNIFER GAUTHIER /REUTERS

We've known from the beginning that Justin Trudeau's COVID policies were too often about political science rather than medical science. Now, thanks to a lawsuit challenging his demand that anyone travelling by air be vaccinated, we have the proof.

That lawsuit has made public documents, first reported by Rupa Subramanya, which show health officials were scrambling to find any justification for vaccine mandates for travel before they came into effect. The documents also show that the lead doctor who approved the use of COVID-19 vaccines was not consulted on whether such mandates would be effective.

The Trudeau government had been publicly opposed to any kind of vaccine mandate for months before their change of stance in August 2021. Trudeau himself had described such policies as "extreme measures that could have real divisive impacts on community and country" and had said this is not how Canada operates in interviews.

Then just before the election call on August 15, the Liberals announced a vaccine mandate for federal workers and anyone who wanted to get on a plane or train to cross the country.

"This is the best way to end the pandemic," Trudeau's intergovernmental affairs minister and political fixer Dominic LeBlanc said at the time.

Yet when asked directly under cross examination if anyone from the prime minister's office, the health minister's office or the transport minister's office had sought her advice on the mandates, Dr. Celia Lourenco, the woman who authorized the vaccines for use in Canada said no.

Bureaucrats asked for proof and got none

It's not the only shocking piece of testimony to come out of the lawsuit.

Aaron McCrorie, the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security at Transport Canada, was emailing people at Health Canada in October 2021, just weeks before the travel mandate took effect, looking for anything to support the policy.

"To the extent that updated data exist or that there is clearer evidence of the safety benefit of vaccination on the users or other stakeholders of the transportation system, it would be helpful to assist Transport Canada supporting its measures," McCrorie wrote.

He followed up again days later saying, "need something fairly soon." The only response he received, according to the court record, a set of talking points on the general benefits of vaccination.

It's not like the federal government wasn't looking at studies to try and find a link between vaccination rates and travel, it's just that the data didn't back up their policy.

Dr. Lisa Waddell, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada was one of the witnesses. She's also author of a study for PHAC which showed little transmission on airplanes.

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"A meta-analysis of studies from January–June 2020 found the risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 in an airplane cabin was estimated to be 1 case for every 1.7 million travelers," the report stated.

Look, I'm a person who believes in vaccines, I've had three shots mainly so that I can see my parents and visit other family members who are in high-risk population groups. That said, I firmly believe in bodily autonomy when it comes to something like taking an injection.

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While there are arguments to be made for vaccine mandates for those who are caring for the most vulnerable in hospitals or long-term care homes, there is no sound medical argument to be made for such mandates on general travel. The Trudeau government brought them in for political reasons just ahead of an election.

While they may have suspended them for now, they have threatened to bring them back and to up the stakes by increasing the number of required doses. This is wrong morally, ethically and as we can see from the evidence, scientifically.

It's time for them to drop these mandates all together or admit that they only engage in such actions for the most crass political reasons.

READ THE FULL COURT DOCUMENTS HERE

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