Taxing the unvaccinated in Quebec ‘a slippery slope,’ says lawyer

A lawyer in Quebec is calling the province’s proposal to make unvaccinated adults pay a fee a “slippery slope” that does nothing to address fundamental problems within the provincial health-care system.

Quebec Premier François Legault announced Tuesday the province is working on a “significant” health-care “contribution” that would be charged to all adults who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

READ: Quebec to charge unvaccinated a ‘significant amount’

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the tax plan is deeply troubling, and advocates working with Black and Indigenous communities fear the plan will further entrench inequities in Canada’s pandemic response.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s waiting for more information about the fee before commenting on national plans.

But Quebec lawyer Geneviève Grey says Premier Legault’s proposal is troubling.

“It’s just a slippery slope and it’s scary to see this kind of measure being taken,” she said.

“What’s to stop them from saying anyone who has lung cancer due to cigarette smoking, well they’re going to have to pay for their medical care? Which is going to go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Grey says taxing the unvaccinated fails to address larger issues faced by Quebec’s health-care network.

“What are the long-term and short-term solutions?” she said. “Is it taxing 10 per cent of the population who hasn’t been vaccinated? Some of whom are homeless, don’t have the means to pay these taxes. Or is it a rethink of how we fund our Medicare system?”

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READ MORE:

• Canadian Civil Liberties Association calls unvaccinated tax constitutionally vulnerable
• Quebec’s tax on the unvaccinated could worsen inequity, advocates say
• Majority of Canadians support healthcare fines for unvaccinated: poll
• Trudeau doesn’t rule out possibility of Canada anti-vax tax

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In Quebec fewer than nine per cent of those eligible – 12 years or older – have yet to receive a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Quebec’s health minister says around 7,000 people booked an appointment for their first shot on Tuesday — the highest number in the past several days.

Grey says the provincial tactic to boost vaccination numbers could even be a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognizes individual autonomy over our bodies and medical decisions.

“To tax people for not getting vaccinated is putting marginalized people at a disadvantage – a serious disadvantage,” said Grey. “If you think about it, marginalized people have been most affected by these disinformation campaigns. People with little resources.”

A similar situation in Austria

While Quebec’s proposal is unprecedented in Canada, a similar situation is unfolding in Austria.

Next month, all unvaccinated individuals aged 15 and over will face fines of about $5,000 every three months – about $20,000 a year.

Roughly 75 per cent of the population in Austria has at least one dose.

“It’s like dividing the population of Austria, the ones who are for the vaccination and the others who are against it,” said Austrian citizen Astrid Bader.

“I totally agree with it because I really think we have to go back to normal life.”

Bader says not everyone in her circle in Vienna is on board.

“For example a friend of mine, she said ‘I’m not going to be vaccinated. Even if I have to pay a fine then I’ll pay it, because it’s my decision. I don’t want the government to interfere.’”

Mixed opinions on Quebec’s proposal

Lorian Hardcastle, a health law expert at the University of Calgary, says the Quebec government may ultimately have to defend its proposal in court.

“It’ll be up to the government to show the pandemic is a compelling enough reason and other vaccine policies aren’t enough and so they need to do this,” said Hardcastle. “And that’ll be a tricky argument for them to make but a court may be receptive to that.”

Just over 60 per cent of the more than 1,500 Canadians recently polled by Maru Public Opinion are on board with the implementation of fines for the unvaccinated, such as a health-care tax.

Patients’ rights advocate Paul Brunet is one of those in favour based on the proportion of unvaccinated to vaccinated people in hospitals and intensive care units.

“When your choice impacts, to the point where you could cause my death because I would not have access to intensive care and be put on a sideway because of you not being vaccinated and wanting intensive care, that is not your right,” said Brunet.

—With files from The Canadian Press