Vaccine mandates and passports loom large in the election's final days
CBC
Far from being focused on Canada's post-pandemic recovery, the federal election has during the last 35 days become a debate over how best to end the pandemic as much of the country struggles with the fourth wave.
The parties are split over the issues of vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination. The Liberals favour both measures, while the Conservatives — who support vaccination and alternatives like rapid testing — are rejecting them.
It's a controversy that candidates say is having an impact in some of the most important ridings in the country, such as King-Vaughan in the Greater Toronto Area.
"That's what we're hearing — 'I'm vaccinated, I'm comfortable, why do I have to get a passport?' That's a question that's asked daily," Anna Roberts, the Conservative candidate in King-Vaughan, told The House for a segment airing Saturday.
Roberts is looking to take a seat that Liberal Deb Schulte won by just a few percentage points in the last two elections. She said she's on board with the Conservatives' approach.
Regular, rapid testing is a fair alternative to requiring vaccination, she said.
"We can't force people to do something," she said. "We're not in a dictatorship. So why don't we give them the option to at least do the rapid testing?"
