Jean Charest says leaders must listen to health experts on lifting federal COVID-19 mandates
Global News
The Conservative Party leadership candidate says decisions about the federal COVID-19 mandates that remain in place should be made according to the advice of health professionals.
Jean Charest says when it comes to lifting federal COVID-19 mandates, leaders should listen to health experts and not replace that advice with their own judgment.
Federal Conservatives and their supporters have long been calling for the removal of vaccine mandates for domestic air travellers, public servants and those working in federally regulated industries.
Tory MPs say rapid testing should be allowed for those who choose to be unvaccinated. They have dismissed the mandates, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before last summer’s federal election, as driving division in the country and threatening people’s livelihoods.
Recently, Conservatives have pointed to provinces’ choices to drop their vaccine passport rules along with remaining health restrictions, following the Omicron-driven wave of the pandemic when infections soared.
Charest, however, said decisions about the federal mandates that remain in place should be made according to the advice of health professionals.
“That’s why they’re there,” the Conservative leadership candidate said in a wide-ranging interview on Thursday.
He said he believes Canadians are lacking guidance on what to expect in the months ahead and they deserve to know more so they can plan their lives.
Unlike Charest, most other Conservative leadership contenders stand definitively against COVID-19 mandates and are campaigning on that position.
