Conservative candidate Rosemarie Falk says she misspoke when she told an interviewer that her party does not support vaccine passports for entry into or departure from Canada — despite making the assertion twice.
She made the comment once during an interview with Kurt Price, the community liaison for a Nissan car dealership in Lloydminister, Alta., as she detailed the Conservative Party‘s policies on vaccines. The interview was flagged to Global News by a source from the Liberal Party’s election campaign.
Falk began her answer by saying she does “not support mandatory vaccinations,” despite the fact that no level of government is pursuing such a policy — instead, many are proposing to restrict access to certain non-essential activities or venues for those who choose to remain unvaccinated.
“Same with vaccine passports. We don’t support vaccine passports, you know, to come into Canada or to leave Canada,” Falk said.
She added that O’Toole would “work with Health Canada,” to ensure Canadians have what they need, should they wish to travel to another country that requires proof of vaccination.
In an emailed statement to Global News, she clarified that she “misspoke” during the interview.
“During the interview in question, I misspoke and I’d like to clarify my position,” Falk said.
“To be clear, I believe that international travellers entering Canada should be required to show proof of vaccination, and I believe that Canadians should be required to confirm their vaccination status to determine quarantine requirements.”
However, in a second video sent to Global News by a Liberal campaign source after Falk’s clarification was published, she could be heard making the same assertion about opposing vaccine passports.
“My myself and my party (do) not support vaccine passports. What my leader, Erin O’Toole, has said is if you, as a Canadian, want to go to another country that requires a vaccine passport, you should be able to go to Health Canada and get what you need, if you’re vaccinated, to show the proof in the other country,” she said in the video, which was posted to the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page on Sept. 8.
“Erin O’Toole and myself (do) not support a vaccine passport for coming into Canada or leaving Canada.”
During a campaign stop in Coquitlam, B.C., in early September, O’Toole said he would work with provinces to devise a national proof-of-vaccination system, adding that such a setup would help Canadians during international travel.
“We’ve launched a number of measures that the federal government can use to do our part. The provinces have a series of systems of proof of vaccination, QR codes, vaccine passports,” he said at the time.
“We will respect what the provinces are doing, partner with them to make sure that we have that for foreign travelling by Canadians.”
The Conservative leader also said he wants 90 per cent of eligible residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — and promised to cover the cost of time off for employees to get a shot, free transportation to vaccine clinics and a national booster shot strategy that would initially target seniors and the immunocompromised.
However, his promise has come under fire from his political opponents.
“Erin O’Toole just said he expects that he would be able to get 90 per cent of Canadians vaccinated in the coming months. He can’t even get 90 percent of his candidates vaccinated, come on,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said in a Sept. 7 campaign stop.
It’s not clear how many Conservative candidates are vaccinated as the party has not released those numbers.
Trudeau has said Ottawa would certify provincial vaccine passports to work on a national scale — but that it could take a year to create the full federal program.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has also called for a national system and has criticized Trudeau for not implementing one sooner.
Vaccine documentation is not a new concept when it comes to international travel. A yellow fever vaccine is required for anyone travelling to countries such as Venezuela, Congo and Panama.
In most provinces in Canada, schools will also require a child’s immunization record before allowing them to attend classes, barring medical or philosophical exemption.
–with files from The Canadian Press