COVID-19 vaccine mandate for truckers not causing food shortage, empty shelves: Alghabra

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra is assuring Canadians there's no reason to fear food shortages will result from a small minority of truck drivers refusing to comply with a vaccine mandate in order to cross the Canada-U.S. border.

In an interview, Alghabra said the large grocery store chains and other retailers have assured him they have plenty of goods to provide their customers, despite some labour shortages and supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, he said there's been no "measurable impact" on the number of trucks crossing the border since the vaccine mandate went into effect on Jan. 15.

Alghabra acknowledged that pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions and the role truckers play in ensuring the smooth flow of goods into the country are serious issues deserving of "rational and meaningful" debate and "even criticism" of government policy.

But he called out critics, including Conservative politicians, for exaggerating and embellishing the problems, spreading fear among Canadians already stressed by almost two years of coping with the global health crisis.