A group of public servants has petitioned the British Columbia Supreme Court to stop a regulation that permits people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to be fired.
The four petitioners are non-union government employees who work in four different government ministries. They are members of the B.C. Public Service Employees for Freedom, an organization of roughly 450 people.
They oppose the government’s announcement on Oct. 5, 2021, that all employees must confirm their vaccination status or face termination..
The group claims it has written to B.C. Public Service deputy minister Lori Wanamaker twice, requesting that the policy be changed “in light of clinical and population research showing the vaccine does not prevent COVID infection or transmission.” The group has not received a response, according to a statement.
The lawyer for the petitioners, Umar Sheikh, said the firing rules create âtwo classes of Canadians.â
âThese public servants have worked faithfully for British Columbians throughout the pandemic and do not deserve to be simply discarded. The province stands to lose a significant amount of talent and many years of dedicated experience, which will be costly for British Columbians to replace,â said Sheikh.
