Canada’s public health agency involved in trucker COVID vaccine rule error: sources
Global News
Confusion over whether truckers would remain exempt from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate last week stemmed from bureaucrats misinterpreting policy in more than one federal agency.
Turmoil and confusion over whether truckers would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate last week stemmed from bureaucrats misinterpreting policy in more than one federal agency – including the one that co-ordinates Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trucking industry was caught by surprise Jan. 12 when the Canada Border Services Agency sent a statement to media saying that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated truck drivers crossing into Canada from the United States would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate that had long been expected to come into force last weekend.
The federal government reversed itself again the next afternoon with a statement that said the information shared the day before had been sent “in error.” The exemption would still end Jan. 15, meaning truck drivers would need to be fully vaccinated if they wanted to avoid a two-week quarantine and pre-arrival molecular test for COVID-19 before crossing into Canada.
The government provided no more explanation for the botched messaging, which one trucking industry association said had prompted some unvaccinated big-riggers to be dispatched across the border during the period of time when everyone thought Ottawa had backed down.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had been consistent that the exemption would end this month.
“There was a miscommunication from an official last week that contradicted that, that was quickly corrected,: he said.
The Canadian Press has learned the miscommunication went beyond one official and even beyond one department, stemming from confusion among officials over whether a key government order-in-council on COVID-19 mandates covered truckers or not. An order-in-council lays out decisions made by cabinet, such as regulations or appointments.
Four federal government sources with direct knowledge of what happened behind the scenes shared the details on the condition they not be named, as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
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