O'Toole says caucus will both respect and challenge House vaccine policy
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says that his caucus has agreed to “respect and abide by” the new rules mandating vaccination in the House of Commons, but at the “earliest opportunity” his party will be challenging the policy decided by a board of MPs.
“A question of privilege will be raised in the House of Commons to challenge the improper conduct and precedent set,” O’Toole said. “Only the House of Commons itself can determine its composition and its conduct."
The decision to implement a vaccine mandate was made on Oct. 19 by the Board of Internal Economy, a long-standing cross-party committee of nine MPs in House leadership roles, including Conservatives.
It will require anyone entering buildings in the House of Commons precinct, including the Chamber, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Nov. 22 when the 44th Parliament kicks off.
O’Toole says that when the new session begins, only fully vaccinated Conservatives or those with valid medical exemptions who have been recently rapid-tested will be taking part in the House proceedings in-person next month.
“Both before the Speaker or House rules, and after they rule, the entire Conservative caucus will respect and abide by all the rules and all health guidance,” O’Toole said. “We respect our Parliament, we respect our rules, we respect the ability to keep all Canadians safe, and I encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” said the Conservative leader.
O’Toole will have to wait until the new session begins to bring forward this challenge, after the election of the next Speaker and the speech from the throne.
It’ll likely start with an MP rising with their question of privilege—an opportunity for MPs to raise a concern that they’ve been impeded in fulfilling their duty — at which point the Speaker will consider the matter and likely get back to the House at a later date with a decision.
“Parliamentary privilege” also includes a series of collective rights for the House of Commons to conduct its work.
With the Liberals, New Democrats, and Bloc Quebecois all fully vaccinated and seemingly fully supportive of the vaccinate mandate, it remains to be seen how far the coming Conservative challenge to the Speaker will get.
The Conservatives have previously said that they don’t think it should be up to a committee of MPs -- one that governs MPs’ spending, approves House budgets, manages employment and other House administration matters -- to decide who can and cannot enter spaces on Parliament Hill.
The Senate is responsible for setting its own rules. Despite O’Toole stating Wednesday that the ruling his caucus is taking issue with applies to both chambers, a vaccine mandate has not been implemented in the Senate at this point, according to Alison Korn, a spokesperson for the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
“With regard to a staff vaccine policy, the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA) will be carefully examining its approach and any decisions will be announced in due course,” Korn said. “With respect to senators themselves, a decision is anticipated before the return of the Senate.”
CAUCUS MET TO DELIBERATE
After a few weeks of conflicting messaging on the party’s position on the mandate, O’Toole met behind closed doors with his caucus on Wednesday where this issue was discussed and according to the leader, coming out of it, the caucus was “united” on this approach.
The Conservatives are the only caucus that have yet to confirm how many of their 118 MPs remain unvaccinated, suggesting rapid testing should be a more widely-used option for those who choose not to roll up their sleeves.
While few MPs stopped to speak with reporters following Wednesday’s meeting other than to say that the caucus was united and looking forward towards their main focus of holding Trudeau accountable, caucus members had more to say on their way in to the closed-door discussion.
“I have not disclosed my health status to anybody,” said Alberta MP Glen Motz, who called “the whole issue a distraction.”
“You can draw your own inference by my ability to enter the House of Commons,” he said.
Alberta MP Ron Liepert said he understands that some of his colleagues have privacy concerns, but he has no issues disclosing that he is fully vaccinated.
“We don't have the luxury of sitting here as an opposition party arguing about whether you should be vaccinated or not. We should be doing what constituents ended up sending us to do,” he said.
Asked whether he was confident that all Conservatives will be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22, Ontario MP Michael Barrett said he will see once that day comes. “I’ll certainly be there. I’m double vaccinated.”
CONSERVATIVES AGAINST HYBRID
A decision awaits on whether a hybrid element will be re-instated for this new session. If it is, it’ll allow MPs—including those who may be unvaccinated—to continue participating in debates and votes, remotely.
In contrast, the federal government’s vaccine mandate for the “core” federal public service that was announced earlier this month applies whether employees work remotely or from the office.
As things stand, both the Conservatives and Bloc are against re-instating what were initially meant to be temporary and pandemic-prompted hybrid sittings, though the Liberals and New Democrats still feel there is merit in allowing members of Parliament to represent their ridings, from their ridings.
“We will not let Mr. Trudeau avoid scrutiny by hiding behind a virtual Parliament. We want to see Parliament return as normal,” O’Toole said Wednesday. “Conservatives want to see a return of Parliament and its committees to normal.”
“I have great faith that they will come around,” said new Government House Leader Mark Holland on Wednesday on the Conservative’s vaccine mandate position. “We've been able to work through in the past Parliament getting to a hybrid system, we've been able to get work through the electronic voting. Both of those things they were against, and they came around.”
In announcing the mandate, House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota said that the decision to impose the policy was taken “to meet ongoing recommendations from public health authorities to help limit the spread of COVID-19 within the work environment.”
In addition to MPs, the policy applies to MPs’ Ottawa staff, political research office employees, administration employees, members of the parliamentary press gallery, parliamentary business visitors, contractors and consultants who want to come into any of the several buildings that hold the House chamber, MPs’ offices, press conference spaces, and committee meeting rooms.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the Conservative position elitist.
“Somehow the Conservatives, the Official Opposition of Canada thinks they deserve to be treated differently than everyday Canadians. Pretty elite of them, and pretty disconnected from reality. We should be showing leadership and getting vaccinated,” he said.
IN DEPTH
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Local Spotlight
Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
Relocated seal returns to Greater Victoria after 'astonishing' 204-kilometre trek
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Ottawa barber shop steps away from Parliament Hill marks 100 years in business
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
'It was a special game': Edmonton pinball player celebrates high score and shout out from game designer
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
'How much time do we have?': 'Contamination' in Prairie groundwater identified
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
'Why not do it together?': Lifelong friends take part in 'brosectomy' in Vancouver
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
Grain-gobbling bears spark 'no stopping' zone in Banff National Park
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
Deer family appears to accept B.C. man as one of their own
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
Doorbell video shows family of black bears scared off by dog in Sudbury, Ont.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.