'This about maintaining a safe workplace,' Barrie mayor supports disciplinary action for unvaccinated staff
One day after the City of Barrie announced its staff must be vaccinated by Sept. 20, its mayor says it is following the example set by many large Canadian employers doing their part in the fight against COVID-19.
"Fundamentally, this is about public health, this about maintaining a safe workplace and continuing to prevent COVID-19 cases in any city facilities as best as we can," says Jeff Lehman.
The mayor says they waited to announce the new policy for city employees to give people an opportunity to get vaccinated during the summer as the province rolled out doses.
City employees identified as high-risk because of their position must be fully vaccinated or face disciplinary action.
In an email to CTV News, the City of Barrie stated, "We will have full compliance from our staff with this policy as we do with all our corporate policies. Right now, the focus is on education and getting the workforce vaccinated. However, employees who chose not to comply with this may be subject to discipline, up to and including dismissal."
The mayor says employees who are unwilling or unable to get vaccinated will undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
"For a medical reason or other reasons an individual is not vaccinated, at their expense, they will be able to do rapid testing, and that will be required two days a week," Lehman explains.
Rapid COVID-19 tests can cost around $40 at pharmacies in Barrie.
Employers are legally obligated to ensure a safe workplace, so Lehman says there's no concern about possible legal action. "Those legal opinions are supporting the employers doing exactly what we're doing."
The mayor adds that he, and his neighbouring municipal leaders, are concerned about the Delta variant and transmission, which is fueling the push to get residents vaccinated.
"This is why the vaccinations are so important. You just have to look at the numbers daily, whether it's locally, provincial, or nationally. The people who are becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 are almost all unvaccinated," he concludes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.