As some city of Prince George employees are facing possible termination if they do not comply with the city’s vaccine mandate requiring staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Prince George Citizen has asked mayoral candidates where they stand on this issue.
As of Dec. 30, 2021, the City of Prince George imposed a mandate requiring all City of Prince George employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated. That mandate remains in effect.
“Fully vaccinated” means having both doses of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series approved by Health Canada, or 14 days after a single-dose COVID-19 vaccines series approved by Health Canada, or anyone else the B.C. Centre for Disease Control defines as “fully immunized,” a spokesperson for the City of Prince George said in an email.
Multiple City of Prince George employees reached out to the Citizen by phone and email to say they had been placed on unpaid leave without benefits as a result of the city's vaccine mandate.
In letters given from the city’s human resource department, employees were given until March 14, 2022 to provide proof they had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to maintain their right to hold their positions at the city.
Candidate Terri McConnachie, who is currently a city councillor, said she is supportive of the city’s position.
“I beat cancer during COVID-19, so I absolutely stand by science and the advice of healthcare professionals,” said McConnachie.
“The cancer I went for treatment for, is caused by a virus that there is a vaccination for. Cervical cancer will be eradicated off the face of the earth thanks to science, healthcare, public health measures, and vaccinations.”
She said she understands that folks want to stand by their principles and not participate in public health measures but there are consequences for those choices.
“The world is such a better place due to vaccines, including all of those we get in childhood, and I think we need to connect with our foremothers and forefathers and the gratitude that they would share for the miracle of science and public health.”
Candidate Simon Yu said he has been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, but doesn’t personally support the city’s vaccine mandate policy as provincial and federal COVID-19 regulations have been lifted.
“I don’t think there should be a need for this mandate based on all of the federal travel guidelines we have right now,” said Yu.
“I don’t think there should be a reason to carry out this policy to terminate an employee of the city if he or she is not vaccinated. I don’t see a reason for doing so at this juncture of the pandemic, that’s the way I understand it.”
Yu said he would consult with Northern Health and the current legislation in place but on a personal level, he does not see the need to uphold the policy.
Candidate Chris Wood said for him the issue boils down to insurance and taxes.
“I stand as yes right now because the city’s insurance policies do not include damages as a result of COVID-19 which means that it increased liability and the only way to cover for that liability would be to increase taxes,” said Wood.
He said until insurance companies decide to include COVID-19 policies, he is in support of the city’s policy.
“When elected I would be open to having a discussion about finding a new insurance provider for the city and one that covers COVID-19 so we can remove that mandate from our hiring process.”
Candidate Adam Hyatt said he does not support vaccine mandates and has made this stance public on social media, despite receiving criticism for it.
“I would like to make it clear that I am not an anti-vaxxer and I have voluntarily taken two shots of the Pfizer vaccine myself, but the key word is voluntarily,” said Hyatt.
“Though I can understand at the start of the pandemic there was much uncertainty, we now have hindsight and much more tangible data to consider.”
Hyatt said he believes COVID-19 vaccines “do little to nothing” to prevent infection or transmission.
“The narrative that has been pushed “if you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for others” does not hold water and has since been proven false,” said Hyatt.
“If elected Mayor, I would table a motion to council to dismiss the city’s current mandate and would work towards re-instating those negatively impacted by this mandate.”
Hyatt said he is concerned if the employees are terminated that the city would be facing millions of dollars in lawsuits.
The city's agreement with CUPE allows employees to remain on a leave of absence for a maximum of 12 months after which their employment would be terminated.
The City of Prince George has not yet responded to the Citizen's request to clarify the status of employees who had not complied with the vaccine mandate and the Citizen could not independently confirm the number of employees currently on unpaid leave and facing termination. However, one employee said an online support group for city employees on unpaid leave has more than 30 members.
Candidates Roy Stewart and Lisa Mitchell could not be contacted by the time of publication.
- with files from Arthur Williams
