Quebec judge refuses injunction against abandoned vaccine mandate for health workers

A Quebec Superior Court judge on Monday rejected a request for injunction against the province’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers, nearly two weeks after the government suspended the health order.

Justice Michel Yergeau’s 47-page decision denied the request by unvaccinated health network employees, including nurses, doctors and other workers.

The applicants weren’t able to demonstrate that the order wasn’t in the interest of the public, and he said it could enter into force even if there isn’t consensus on it.

It is not for the court, Yergeau wrote, “to rule summarily on proposals which oppose individual rights and what the elected officials consider in the public interest and which leaves room for debate.”

Earlier this month, the Quebec government abandoned its Nov. 15 deadline for health-care staff to be vaccinated or suspended without pay, because it worried the order would significantly reduce services in the overburdened system. Instead, it required unvaccinated staff to be tested three times a week and for new hires to be fully vaccinated.

The case on its merits – whether a mandatory vaccination order is constitutional – won’t be heard until sometime in 2022, if at all.

“With regards to the investigation on the merits … it will remain to be determined whether the questions raised by the applicants still play a useful role in requiring the attention of the court,” he wrote.

Yergeau said it’s not up to the court to interfere in a political decision, but only in the legality of the acts. If the government has taken the wrong choice to protect public health, he said, it will be up to voters to decide.

Meanwhile, Quebec reported 509 new COVID-19 cases Monday and one more death attributed to the novel coronavirus. The seven-day average of new daily cases is 634. Health authorities said hospitalizations rose by 13 to 202, after 21 patients entered hospital and eight patients were discharged. The number of people in intensive care remained stable at 42.

Also Monday, Quebec lifted restrictions on karaoke bars and on dancing in bars and clubs, and it allowed high school students to remove masks inside classrooms. Health Minister Christian Dube told reporters in Rimouski, Que., he didn’t think the government was removing restrictions too quickly.

“I don’t think we’re going too fast, but we must be prudent,” Dube said.

He acknowledged that new daily cases in the province have risen over the past two weeks, but he said the increase is attributable to the lack of vaccination among younger school-aged kids. Another factor, he added, is a jump in cases in regions of Quebec with a relatively high number of unvaccinated people, including Nunavik, in northern Quebec; pockets in regions like Estrie, east of Montreal; and in Chaudiere-Appalaches, south of Quebec City.

The province’s public health institute says 88.5 per cent of Quebecers aged 12 and older are considered adequately vaccinated and 90.8 per cent have received at least one dose.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2021.