Canada is the tenth most restrictive country in the world when it comes to overall government COVID-19 measures, according to the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index.
The index compares the strictness of pandemic “lockdown style” restrictions.The score, which ranges from 0-100 – with 100 being the most stringent measures possible – takes into consideration policies like school closures and travel bans.
Currently, Canada’s score sits at 69.91, making it more restrictive than countries such as Iran (61.57), Russia (60.65) and China (59.72).
Leading the pack is Germany, which has a stringency score of 84.26. Currently, the German government is considering making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for its citizens.
Incoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also called for a “lockdown of the unvaccinated” in Germany, and the country’s Bundestag will soon debate the prospect of nationwide compulsory vaccination.
Austria scored a stringency rate of 73.15. It too is considering a compulsory mandate, including a potential €7,200 fine for those unwilling to get vaccinated.
While Canada has not yet openly considered a nationwide vaccine mandate, its existing COVID restrictions have reached into many areas of public and private life.
Many sectors now require proof of vaccination for employees, and a federal mandate recently came into effect that bars unvaccinated Canadians from boarding planes and trains nationwide.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is challenging the travel ban in court.
Unvaccinated Canadians cannot leave the country even though the CBSA has confirmed to True North that unvaccinated migrants are being escorted into Canada.
On Friday, Conservative MP Stephen Ellis blasted the federal government for “alienating millions of unvaccinated Canadians with more and more restrictive mandates.”
“Unfortunately, we do hear from them over and over that they are losing their jobs, they are losing their pensions, they are concerned about losing their house and how they are going to provide for their family,” Ellis continued. “Those are not the types of policies that are going to help us fix this situation.”
