Premier Danielle Smith says she plans to reinforce the right to decide whether to receive a vaccination or other medical procedure in changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights.
In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government aims to amend the document in a few weeks to ensure people have the right to make informed decisions without fear of undue pressure or interference by the government.
“It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected (to) or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent,” she said.
The changes outlined by Smith would also ensure the province respects “the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms.”
I’m hoping it’s just political grand-standing fluff and no (further) damage to the health system. You can already refuse vaccines.
That said, employers requiring vaccination as condition of employment outside of some select sectors during COVID did feel like a line was crossed
I’m very libertarian (like the political stance, not the party) but even I don’t see a problem with an employer requiring a vaccination. Every site I work at requires people to be vaccinated against Covid among other things. Why would my employer not require the vaccination?
As a plus, it let us prune a couple of antivax idiots from our ranks.
Fundamentally, the only people against this simply don’t believe in covid. You don’t see them crying on the internet about employers not letting people work on construction sites without hard hats - it’s basic safety. As long as you accept that covid is dangerous, then you have no issue with employers requiring a vaccination.
It’s the same type of people who were against seatbelt regulations in the 1970s and helmet laws for motorcycles and bicycles later on.
People who only want to live in a society when the benefit to them is immediately obvious.
I basically agree, the only difference is that it’s something you put into your body with potential side effects (extremely rare of course) which feels like it’s crossing a different line than PPE.
Combine that with many employers never requiring other vaccines before but adding the COVID vaccine as a requirement for employment not just for new hires but people already employed and I think it was just a bit too far. Maybe if people had the option of really masking up or something instead and they refused that too would I feel better about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m like triple or quadruple vaccinated for COVID at this point, but that’s because I felt it was the best course of action. I would’ve not been a fan of my employer requiring it even though it’s something I was going to do anyway.