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Chatham-Kent-Leamington’s independent MPP is calling on senior levels of government to back down from an upcoming vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers.
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Rick Nicholls, who was ousted from the Doug Ford Progressive Conservative caucus last year for refusing to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, says he’s concerned what the rule could potentially do to the supply chain in North America.
“Doug Ford needs to pick up the phone and call his friends Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau to tell them to back down eliminating the COVID exemption for truckers crossing the border,” Nicholls said in a release Monday.
Canada will require all truckers entering from the US to show proof of vaccination starting on Saturday as part of its fight against growing COVID-19 case numbers.
Prime Minister Trudeau is pushing ahead with the mandate for international truckers despite pressure from critics who say it will worsen driver shortages and drive up the price of goods.
That could force roughly 16,000, or 10 per cent, of cross-border drivers off the roads, the Canadian Trucking Alliance estimated. The government estimated five per cent of drivers will be impacted, a government source told Reuters.
The mandate is the first policy measure taken since the pandemic began that could limit cross-border trucking. Trucks crossed the border freely when the border was closed for 20 months because they were considered essential to keep supplies moving.
“We don’t anticipate significant disruptions or shortages for Canadians,” the source added.
However, Nicholls, who recently joined the Ontario Party to become its first sitting member, said ending the exemption is the wrong way to go.
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“Truck drivers crossing the border have been exempt from COVID requirements for two years now,” he said. “Arbitrarily removing their exemption on Jan. 15 is going to hurt everyone and help no one.
“In my riding alone, the agricultural businesses and greenhouses will be seriously harmed if Trudeau goes ahead with this.”
Trudeau has championed a strict vaccination policy for civil servants and federally regulated workers.
Industry groups and opposition parties also say it is a bad idea, especially at a time when the Bank of Canada is eyeing its first interest rate increase since 2018.
Even though the vast majority of Canadian truckers are vaccinated, those who are not “are already starting to quit,” said Stephen Laskowski, president and chief executive of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, adding the industry is already short some 18,000 drivers.
More than two-thirds of the $ 650 billion in goods traded annually between Canada and the US travels by road.
Canada’s border agency, in response to a Reuters query, said unvaccinated truck drivers who are not Canadian would be turned back at the border starting Saturday, possibly causing delays at the crossing. Canadian drivers will be allowed back into the country but will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
Vaccinated drivers will be allowed in and allowed to skip a pre-arrival molecular coronavirus test, the agency said.
– With Postmedia files