Alberta county passes policy that stops businesses with vaccine mandates from winning contracts

A county in northwestern Alberta has approved a policy that disqualifies businesses with mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandates from being awarded future county contracts.

Under the new policy, which took effect last week, businesses currently under contract with Mackenzie County can work remotely — as their employees are now banned from working on county sites — or subcontract the project to a company that does not have a mandatory vaccine policy.

"It's a personal choice for people to make," said Reeve Josh Knelsen. "I don't think that government has any business telling people if they may or may not come to work because of this."

Byron Peters, the county's interim chief administrative officer, presented an item for council to discuss during last week's committee of the whole meeting.

It proposed amending the procurement policy to place restrictions on businesses that have mandatory vaccine policies.

Council approved the policy during its meeting on Feb. 16. Knelsen said the decision was unanimous.

Mackenzie County, about 700 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, includes the hamlets of Fort Vermilion and La Crete. As of last year the region had a population of just over 12,600. 

The Purchasing Authority Directive and Tendering Process now states Mackenzie County "does not tolerate mandatory vaccination or any other discriminatory requirements for any employee, contractor, or sub-contractor" at its workplaces, or for job sites within the county.

The legislation, as written, does not prohibit any company from bidding on county contracts.

Procurement documents will clearly state, however, that companies with vaccine mandates are ineligible to gain the work, prior to bids closing or contracts being awarded, according to a news release issued by Peters last week.

"We don't care if people are vaccinated or not," Knelsen said. "But when somebody wants to threaten somebody's … livelihood by telling them either you take this or you don't have a job, or you take this or you can't do this, that's just wrong."

There aren't many businesses in the area with mandatory vaccine policies, he said, and council is open to amending the new policy if needed.

Calgary-based electricity and natural gas provider ATCO requires all employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide proof of exemption, according to its website.

A spokesperson told CBC News that ATCO has received a letter from Mackenzie County and plans to sit down with county officials to discuss their concerns in greater detail.