Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the government is constantly assessing and reassessing the COVID situation and will make changes to federal mandates when convinced it is the right time.
It's working.
The pressure Canadians are putting on Liberals to end their discriminatory & unscientific mandates has them feeling the pressure & calling for them to end.
Keep it going. Tell your MP that you won't stop until all of these mandates are gone for good. https://t.co/tEA7u88TIn
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) June 10, 2022
With provincial and international jurisdictions easing COVID restrictions, some Liberal MPs say the vast majority of their caucus want the federal government to drop travel vaccination requirements, allowing unvaccinated Canadians to board domestic flights.
Several Liberal MPs interviewed said that most caucus members want all federal pandemic restrictions dropped as soon as possible.
Conservative Luc Berthold stated in the House of Commons “It is getting so ridiculous that Liberal MPs are coming to ask Conservatives not to talk about it because they are afraid the Prime Minister isn’t willing to admit the opposition is right”.
“The massive majority of Liberal MPs want the mandates to end,” said one Liberal MP who spoke on not-for-attribution basis to offer their candid opinion.
“On the other hand, the mask mandate for flying, for example, I think is still warranted, if you’re gonna sit beside someone for two hours or six hours,” he said. “It’s everyone, whether you’re vaccinated or [not], and especially if you’re going to put a bunch of people on the plane, some of whom are non-vaccinated and things, then there is increased risk. So I would probably keep the mask mandate, that would be my opinion.”
Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, Ont.) put forward a motion in the House calling for an end to all travel restrictions. It was defeated by a vote of 202 to 117.
Speaking on not-for-attribution basis, several Liberal MPs said the issue has been raised numerous times in regional and national caucus meetings, but they did not get a satisfactory answer from cabinet ministers or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) as to why federal measures are still in place when provinces and countries have eased most of their restrictions for residents.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra (Mississauga-Centre, Ont.) told reporters on June 8 that the government is constantly assessing and reassessing the situation. He said Ottawa will make a decision about changing mandates when it’s satisfied it’s the right time. He announced the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has hired 865 more staffers across the country help manage the volume of travellers to address the long lines, with 644 hired for Toronto and Vancouver airports alone, where wait times have been the worst. On top of that, he said, the Canada Border Services Agency is also in the process of hiring summer students and staff to help manage the volume of passengers at airports.
Liberal MP Joël Lightbound says his party's COVID policy 'stigmatizes and divides people' | CBC News https://t.co/qgxqSop5qO
— Canadian Riley (@TiaRileyCanada) June 10, 2022
“We’re always erring on the side of public safety,” said Alghabra. “We committed to Canadians that we want to do everything we can to protect their health and safety and we’re seeing people and governments and jurisdictions try to grapple with making the right decisions and the right balancing act with balancing public health and economic fluidity. That’s what we’re doing.”
Credit in Part: Hill Times