O'Toole concedes some Conservative MPs have caused 'confusion' over vaccines
CBC
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said today he expects his party's MPs to promote vaccines and leave talk about their efficacy to the health experts — a comment that comes after a Conservative caucus member made some eyebrow-raising comments about COVID-19 shots over the weekend.
O'Toole and his team have been grappling with questions about vaccines for months as some of his party's MPs and senators have spoken out against mandatory shots or have avoided getting vaccinated altogether.
O'Toole has tried to walk a fine line — telling Canadians he supports the vaccination campaign while opposing mandatory vaccination rules for public servants and the travelling public.
O'Toole also has said his party will challenge a House of Commons Board of Internal Economy policy that requires all MPs attending Parliament in person to be vaccinated — but has refused to say how many Conservative caucus members are fully vaccinated.
A group of Conservative parliamentarians recently formed what they call a "civil liberties" working group to advocate for the unvaccinated.
While promoting the group's work during an appearance on CTV, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu suggested that polio — a disease largely eradicated in Canada through vaccinations — posed more of a threat than COVID-19.
"In terms of the risk, people that got polio, many of them died and many of them were crippled, and that is not the same frequency of risk that we see with COVID-19," she said in an interview on the network's Question Period program.
"I'm just receiving the information from medical experts that talk about the relative risk. I'm not a doctor myself."
Between 1949 and 1954, 11,000 people in Canada incurred some degree of paralysis and 500 people died due to polio. More than 29,000 Canadians have died so far of COVID-19 since the onset of this health crisis in early 2020.
Gladu also said "multiple sources of data" must be reviewed to determine if vaccine mandates actually work to curb the spread of the virus. She said asking people to disclose their vaccination status is a slippery slope that could lead to "discrimination" against people with other health conditions.
"People are being forced to disclose and the question is, what is next?" she said.
In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Gladu said vaccine mandates "infringe on people's rights" and that politicians "need to hear from all sides," including those who choose to go unvaccinated.
WATCH: Conservative MPs forming 'mini-caucus' to talk about vaccine-related issues
Asked about Gladu's comparison of COVID-19 to polio, O'Toole said Conservatives "take a professional approach to discussions on the safety of vaccines."