Campuses are very safe, higher education minister says amid calls to enforce vaccine mandate

The day after McGill students rallied on campus for stricter COVID-19 measures, including mandatory vaccines or frequent testing, the government of Quebec has not swayed from its decision.

“Education is an essential service so we’re not going on that road of asking for mandatory vaccination for students,” said Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann.

Premier François Legault told reporters on Wednesday that employers can require employees to be vaccinated, however, McCann said Thursday that does not apply to university employees.

“I don’t think we can make an equation between establishments like universities or CEGEPS and private enterprise. Education is an essential service, so what I want to say on this is to encourage teachers and professors and staff, of course, to be doubly vaccinated,” she said.

The McGill Association of University Teachers has wanted a vaccine mandate since mid-August. In a letter sent to the Mcgill administration, they write that “an employer has the duty to protect the health of its employees,” adding “McGill University shows no willingness in this regard.”

“If the university cannot provide the safe and collegial environment that so many of our members are asking for then they have every right to seek redress via grievance or legal action. MAUT will support them,” MAUT writes.

Sasha Delouvrier, McGill Student Society vice-president external affairs, organized the protest on Wednesday.

“As much as it’s an essential service, it seems as though student lives and faculty and staff lives are being overlooked,” he said.

Members of McGill’s student body complain they won’t feel safe until everyone is vaccinated.

“It should be a decision that is on recommendation of public health,” argued McCann. “At this point, public health is giving us these kind of orientations that we’re implementing and I feel confident that the campuses are very safe.”

In an email to Global News, a McGill University spokesperson writes that the institution encourages people to follow the government’s vaccine directives, confirming that the vaccine passport will not be applied to employees.