A majority of Canadians oppose government efforts to stigmatize and punish individuals who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to in-house government research.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, Privy Council research revealed that any domestic vaccination passport system was very unpopular among Canadians – including individuals who chose to be vaccinated.
“There was not a great desire among the Canadian public to implement such a program for Canadians,” said the report titled Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views.
The report stated that opposition “centred on the issues this would cause for those individuals who do not wish to be vaccinated” and that “some felt their personal choice in this regard should be respected.”
The Privy Council report revealed that a majority of Canadians believed it was wrong to deny unvaccinated individuals access to public services. Many believed vaccine mandates infringed on Canadians’ civil liberties.
“The requirement to show documentation, for some, seemed overly intrusive” and “was simply unnecessary,” said the report.
“Many mentioned the impact of implementing vaccine passports on civil liberties, viewing it as an infringement on the ability of unvaccinated people to travel.”
According to the report, while some Canadians supported vaccination requirements for international travellers, most people “specified they would only support such measures for entry into Canada but not for use in daily life within the country.”
The report was published on Oct. 29 and was one of a $1.6 million series of interviews by researchers with the Strategic Counsel.
While politicians, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, originally opposed mandating vaccines and bringing in vaccine passports, both measures have been implemented across Canada in recent months.
Unvaccinated Canadians are unable to access a number of venues and services, including restaurants, sports events and gyms. Further, individuals who have declined to get vaccinated have been demonized by politicians and the legacy media.
In August, The Toronto Star published a front page that stated, “I have no empathy left for the willfully unvaccinated. Let them die.”
On more than one occasion, Justin Trudeau has accused unvaccinated Canadians of being “racist and misogynistic extremists.”
Despite the attacks on unvaccinated individuals, COVID vaccines have been unable to protect Canadians from the Omicron variant. In Ontario, new COVID infections have been predominantly among fully vaccinated individuals.
