Western Canada: B.C. unveils details of COVID-19 vaccine card as Alberta faces pressure to mandate vaccines

Good morning. Wendy Cox in Vancouver today. James Keller is in Calgary.

British Columbia’s passport is now officially available to those who have had at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine. The proof-of-vaccination card will offer assurances to those who have had the jab that they are enjoying activities like dining or attending a concert with others who have taken the same step, reducing the risk of getting sick to all.

It is also aimed at giving a nudge to those who have not yet been vaccinated, an effort to encourage them to do so and for those who continue to refuse, to ensure they do not pose a risk to others.

But this process of separating those deemed safe from those who remain at higher risk for contracting and spreading the virus, especially as the Delta variant pushes case counts and hospitalizations upwards, is bound to be imperfect and is forcing policy-makers into unprecedented decisions about rights versus risk, privileges vs necessities.

As Sean Fine writes today, governments are permitted under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to limit basic freedoms if they can show why such a limit is reasonable. But there is scant Canadian case law on what is reasonable in a health emergency.

“A government can’t hold you down and inject you with a vaccine without interfering with your life, liberty and security of the person’s constitutional right,” David Fraser, a privacy and employment lawyer in Halifax, said in an interview. (Quebec’s Public Health Act does authorize compulsory vaccination in an emergency, but such a policy has not been implemented.)

“But nobody’s doing that. They’re saying, ‘Here’s a bunch of things you can do if you’re double-vaccinated – and you can’t do them if you’re not.’ "

Even so, Mr. Fraser said, to be compliant with the Charter of Rights and human-rights codes, any such laws should accommodate “anyone who cannot be vaccinated on the basis of health condition or a bona fide religious belief – which doesn’t include [that] you’re just upset about something you read on Facebook.”

Two provinces, B.C. and Manitoba, do not allow exemptions to date as part of their vaccine passport policies.

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry has said she believes the province is on solid legal footing with the new policy. She said Tuesday that those who cannot be vaccinated have other alternatives – they can get take-out rather than dining in a restaurant and they can enjoy movies or sports games on television.

“This is a temporary measure with high-risk settings,” she said. She noted that allowing exemptions would be putting too much onus on workers to sort out legitimate exemptions from illegitimate ones, she said.

British Columbians flooded the website on Tuesday to register for their individualized QR code that stores the required clinical information – a scannable, square-shaped image based on bar-code technology – which can be displayed on a smartphone or printed as a paper record.

“The implementation of a B.C. vaccine card will allow us to ensure that those non-essential businesses that have been adversely affected by lockdowns and shutdowns and public-health orders can now confidently say to their patrons who have been double vaccinated, that they are operating a business that is safe for them to enter,” Premier John Horgan told a news conference on Tuesday.

The BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association has endorsed the system that promises to reduce the uncertainty of operating during the pandemic, and could pave the way to easing restrictions such as masks or capacity limits.

But the vaccine requirements will not apply to workers at those businesses, however. The province has sought to sidestep potential conflicts related to employment matters, and has only mandated vaccines for employees in long-term care and assisted living due to the high number of COVID-19-related deaths among seniors in care.

As well, university students will not be required to show proof of vaccination to attend classes, but they will if they want to go into the campus pub.

Hundreds of businesses have already signed onto a campaign declaring they will not be asking their patrons for their vaccination status. But businesses that violate the measures can face fines of $2,300. Individuals who defy the requirement can face fines of up to $575.

Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Yukon, and Newfoundland and Labrador have also announced plans to require proof of vaccination to access restaurants, bars and sports events.

In Alberta, Premier Jason Kenney has repeatedly ruled out any sort of mandatory vaccine passport, despite calls from business, local governments, public-health experts and the Opposition New Democrats. However, Mr. Kenney did open the door a bit wider last week, when he announced that the province will be creating an electronic system to make it easier for people to prove their vaccination status.

Mr. Kenney didn’t provide any more details, though he suggested it would be designed to help businesses that are already asking for such proof, like the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. He also said it could help Albertans travelling to other provinces.

The mayors of Edmonton and 11 surrounding communities issued a letter on Tuesday asking the province to go further and make that system mandatory. The mayors’ letter said vaccine passports are the best way to compel more people to get vaccinated, end the pandemic and fully reopen the economy.

Mr. Kenney is already facing criticism from within his own United Conservative Party caucus for his voluntary QR code plan. Backbencher Peter Guthrie, who represents the riding of Airdrie-Cochrane, released a letter to his constituents that called the voluntary QR code system the first step to a provincewide passport, which he said would be unfair to those who choose not to get vaccinated.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has taken a similar approach, rejecting calls for a vaccine passport but promising to develop a QR code system that could be used by businesses that want to ask their customers for proof..

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.