Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told CBC Radio’s The House host Chris Hall that people who decided not to get vaccinated made a choice that came with consequences. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Meanwhile the push to vaccinate continues….
Trudeau defends vax mandates, Emergencies Act decision, in interview
In a wide-ranging interview with CBC Radio’s The House, Trudeau spoke about tough, and divisive, choices
Justin Trudeau says people who chose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must accept the consequences of those decisions, including lost employment and restricted access to transportation and other services.
“It was their choice and nobody ever was going to force anyone into doing something they don’t want to do,” the prime minister said in an interview with CBC Radio’s The House airing on Saturday.
“But there are consequences when you don’t. You cannot choose to put at risk your co-workers. You cannot choose to put at risk the people sitting beside you on an airplane,” Trudeau said before leaving for international summits in Africa and Europe.
Federal vaccine mandates played a major role in last fall’s election campaign and proved to be a focus of public anger earlier this year that contributed to the occupation of downtown Ottawa and blockades at border crossings in four provinces.
More protests are planned in the nation’s capital over the Canada Day long weekend even though the federal government lifted most of the restrictions this week.
Trudeau spoke at length during The House interview about the unrest, how his government responded to it and whether his own comments referring to the protesters coming to Ottawa as a “small fringe minority” holding “unacceptable views” contributed to the anger.
“No. I will always call out unacceptable rhetoric and hateful language wherever I see it,” he said, insisting his remarks in January were never intended for the vaccine hesitant, but for those he believes were deliberately spreading misinformation and disinformation.
“Now, unfortunately, with … our modern social media and communications world, that was picked up and conflated and extended on. And I’m not going to start to say I was taken out of context, but my point was that there are people who are deliberately trying to stir up hate and intolerance and misinformation,” he added.
“And we do need to call out those folks even as we continue to do everything we can to reach out in thoughtful, reasonable ways to people who do have worries or concerns and focus on allaying those worries and concerns.”
(Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-vax-mandates-emergency-act-1.6499214)