Canadian Manufacturers Continue To Oppose Vaccine Mandate For Truckers

As The Canadian Press reported, business trade associations are keeping up their advocacy against a Canadian government policy that said unvaccinated U.S. truckers cannot cross the U.S.-Canada border. (Read more about that policy here.)

Both the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition released statements last week calling on the government to rescind the rules.

Chamber President Perrin Beatty said that while the organization “strongly” supports “as many people vaccinated as possible” getting the vaccine, the government should allow more time before imposing the mandate on truckers. He noted, “Until now, governments have considered truckers to be providing an essential service, which has kept supply chains functioning even during the most serious waves of the pandemic.”

The Canadian Manufacturing Coalition, which represents more than 30 manufacturing trade associations, also asked for full reversal of the vaccine mandate. Dennis Darby, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, which chairs the coalition, said “Canadians are seeing empty shelves” because vaccine mandates are making supply chain bottlenecks worse.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the vaccine mandate opponents and defended the mandate as a necessary step to keep supply chains open.

Additionally, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, and Stephen Laskowski, the president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), released a statement that said COVID-19 vaccines are the “most effective tool to reduce the risk of COVID-19” and protect public health.