As Omicron surges, O’Toole pressed on calls to ‘accommodate’ vaccine holdouts

O'Toole said his party plans to push for an emergency meeting of the House of Commons health committee on why the federal government hasn't been providing more rapid tests.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole on Thursday defended his most recent calls for the government to “accommodate” people who won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant are spreading rapidly around the world, shattering case counts in Canada and straining health-care systems already struggling two years into the pandemic.

O’Toole was asked by journalists during a press conference about why he believes those who choose not to get vaccinated — and who are disproportionately ending up in intensive care units — deserve accommodation.

He did not specifically answer the question, but said heated language around measures like vaccine mandates is not effective at encouraging people to get the vaccine.

“The more we can give all Canadians tools to keep the spread down and keep normalcy to life is what we have to be doing,” he said, calling it “irrational” that someone could lose their job for refusing.

“I would rather see that smart approach than division and pink slips.”

It’s not the first time O’Toole has faced questions over his calls to accommodate people who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The issue of vaccine mandates become a hot-button one during the fall federal election, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a key promise to require them.

While polls have suggested such measures have broad general support, they also have vocal opponents and at several points during the campaign, anti-vaxxers mobbed Trudeau appearances, including one where one protester threw stones at him.