The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has announced they will take legal action against Quebec’s plan to implement a “health tax” against those who choose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The JCCF says the province’s plan to tax the unvaccinated violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The proposed Quebec ‘health tax’ is an egregious violation of the Charter rights of Quebecers and an affront to equality which Canada was, in times past, known for,” said JCCF President John Carpay.
The JCCF argues that every individual has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination.
“This is a blatant attack on a minority of society. Historically persecution of a minority through taxation has paved the way for further and worse measures. We will fight this discriminatory and unscientific tax in court and defend the right to bodily autonomy of Quebecers and all Canadians. This injustice has no place in Canada,” said Carpay.
Quebec currently has 78.3 % of its population double-vaccinated with over 85% having at least one dose.
Although Quebec premier François Legault did not indicate when the tax would be implemented, he did indicate that the amount would be “significant”.
Quebec is not the only government to tax unvaccinated people, as several European countries have brought in similar policies. Austria announced anyone unvaccinated over the age of 13 would have to pay 3,600 euros – or the equivalent of $4000 – every three months. The policy is set to come into effect in February.
Other countries have made fees specific to age groups. Greece and Italy have both implemented fines for those over the age of 60 who choose not to get the COVID shots. In Greece, this amounts to 100 euros monthly. In Italy, those who refuse to pay a fine of 600-1500 euros also risk losing their salaries.
Earlier in January, Quebec was also the first province in Canada to announce they would be moving to a three-dose vaccine passport. The new “health tax” would fall along the same lines as the vaccine passport and would have to be paid by those who choose not to receive three doses of the recommended COVID-19 vaccines.
The JCCF are not the only ones speaking out against the province’s “health tax”. As previously reported by True North, The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has also condemned any financial penalties targeting unvaccinated Canadians.
“Premier Legault is taking the unprecedented step of taxing Canadians based on their personal medical choices,” said Cara Zwibel, a CCLA lawyer and spokesperson.
“This is a divisive measure that will end up punishing and alienating those who may be in most need of public health supports and services,”
Zwibel claims that many unvaccinated people face barriers to accessing health care because of previous negative experiences from within the system.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre has also denounced the new policy, claiming it was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s rhetoric that encouraged the Quebec government. In a tweet on Thursday Poilievre stated, “(t)his government overreach is the direct result of Trudeau’s hateful demagoguery, targeting a minority to divide and distract from his own failures,”
Although Trudeau has not endorsed the “health tax”, he has made references to unvaccinated Canadians as “extremists, misogynists, and racists”.
Conservative MPs Michael Cooper, Garnett Genuis and Jeremy Patzer have also condemned the “health tax” while Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole seems hesitant to do so thus far.
