Vaccination Policy

Vaccination Policy, Human Rights, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Law

Union officers and stewards give advice they believe, in good faith and according to their best measures, to be correct. This advice is not always what members want to hear, but we are still bound to give it based on the situation as it is, not as we might like it to be.

 

The three links below shed light on how vaccine mandates, human rights, and the law intersect.

 

The first is the recent statement from the Ontario Human Rights Commission regarding its best views on the likely legality of vaccine mandates under the Ontario Human Rights Code. This is not legally binding, but it is instructive as to the views of this expert body.

 

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/ohrc-policy-statement-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-and-proof-vaccine-certificates

 

The second is an article by two legal scholars regarding the likely legality of vaccine mandates vis-à-vis the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly in terms of a Section 7/Section 1 analysis:

 

https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2021CanLIIDocs1946#!fragment//BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otokLC4EbDtyp8BQkAGU8pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA

 

The third is a very recent Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding the ability of unionized employees to engage in independent litigation with regard to matters arising from their employment:

 

https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/19043/index.do

 

It should be further noted that the advice we have received from OPSEU Legal and from several independent lawyers broadly aligns with all of the above.