The mandates were put in place to “increase the vaccination rate and reduce the risk of transmission, but that the Liberal government’s mandate has exhausted its usefulness.” wrote Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith.
While Erskine-Smith abstained from the vote, he didn’t support to “immediately revert to pre-pandemic travel measures.” and thinks it is too soon to drop mask mandate. However he believes the so-called fully vaccinated, “two-doses of covid vaccine without accommodation is no longer justified.”
The opposition motion was put forward by Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman, asking the House to reverse policies that ban unvaccinated Canadians from travelling by train or plane within their own nation.
“I didn’t support the idea of dropping masks right away, but I’ve also made it clear to the government that a two-dose vaccine mandate without accommodation is no longer justified,” Erskine-Smith wrote in a Twitter thread after the vote.
“We first debated these questions at the end of February. At that time, Dr. Tam had indicated that a review of mandates was warranted. As I noted in my reasons then, an immediate and transparent re-evaluation should have taken place at that time” he wrote adding there has been no transparency in to the re-evaluation of travel-related measures.
“Nothing about the re-evaluation of travel-related measures has been transparent. It is not clear what Dr. Tam’s recommendations are, and there’s been no adequate justification provided for continuing the exclusive two-dose mandate”
Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith wrote the vaccine mandates where to increase the vaccination rate and reduce the risk of transmission, but that the Liberal government’s mandate has exhausted its usefulness.
“the current mandate has exhausted its usefulness in reaching new people, and the impact of two doses on transmission risk is too low (especially given alternative testing options)”
He mention one of his constituents had suffered from temporary facial paralysis after her 1st dose “She feared further vaccination but didn’t qualify for a medical exemption. Should she be precluded from travelling by air/rail within Canada? Not without a compelling justification”
“Another constituent’s mother is in Russia, already has a supervisa to be here, and is vaccinated with Sputnik, which we don’t recognize. Should she be precluded from travelling to Canada to be with her family? Not without a compelling justification”
“There are many stories and contexts, but the core point is that a two-dose mandate no longer makes any sense.” he wrote.
He went on to write he use to support the mandate but now there is no logic behind supporting it with no other options.
“I’ve earlier argued for a three dose mandate with accommodation via rapid testing. But with ongoing inaction, dropping the two-dose mandate also makes good sense now.”
“Lastly, because it’s related, the delays and challenges at our airports are unacceptable. If measures don’t accomplish any public good and they contribute to delays, then there’s good reason to eliminate them.”
