Erin O’Toole dodges questions about Tory MP who supports anti-vaxxers

OTTAWA—Conservative Leaderblamed government “secrecy” for fuelling concern about a future Thursday as he dodged questions about one of his MPs flirting with vaccine skeptics.

Responding to questions at a morning press conference, O’Toole declined to denounce Conservative MP Derek Sloan, who sponsored a in Parliament that questions the safety of COVID vaccines and likens their speedy rollout to “human experimentation.”

Instead, O’Toole called on the government to lift the veil on its planned vaccination campaign, including by releasing details for how it intends to roll out doses to the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and Indigenous communities that fall under federal health jurisdiction. That would “help bring certainty” to people about the pandemic response and “the efficacy of the vaccine,” O’Toole said.

“More important than petitions sent in from Canadians across the country is a plan for the 38 million Canadians seeing a government with no information heading into Christmas,” O’Toole said.

“You wonder why Canadians are worried? It’s the secrecy and incompetence of the Trudeau government.”

Sloan, an Ontario MP who lost to O’Toole in the Conservative leadership race this year, told reporters Wednesday that he typically tables all petitions signed by his constituents unless he is “adamantly opposed” to what they contain. The petition was written by a director of a group called that argues for “informed consent” about vaccines and their risks, benefits and alternatives.

“I’m not an expert on this subject matter so I can’t say one way or other whether certain protocols are being followed. But I believe, you know, these people seem to have concerns and I have no problem allowing them to raise those through a petition in the House of Commons,” Sloan said.

Responding to questions from Conservatives about the vaccine plan in the House on Thursday, Health Minister Patty Hajdu accused the opposition of doubting health officials. “Unlike the opposition party, we have confidence in public health officials, we have confidence in public health guidance and we certainly have confidence in vaccination,” she said.

Prof. Timothy Caulfield, who holds the Canada Research Chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta, said everyone should be concerned about petitions like the one Sloan is sponsoring, which he said “seems to be more about fear-mongering than rational oversight.”

“These claims are frustrating and do nothing to help Canadians get through the pandemic,” he said.

“These vaccines have been studied. There have been clinical trials involving thousands of individuals.” Of course, the science must be reviewed by regulators “who independently assess the available evidence,” he said, adding post-market surveillance will “help identify rare adverse events.”

But Caulfield said research shows the anti-vaccine community, including Vaccine Choice Canada, uses “ideologically or intuitively appealing concepts like choice, freedom, liberty, consent … to sidestep the scientifically implausible nature of the myths and the misinformation they push.”

It fuels mistrust.

Caulfield said research shows that anywhere from 20 to 40 per cent of people — depending on the survey — are worried and are “taking a wait-and-see perspective.”

What’s driving the hesitancy, Caulfield said, is a “breakdown in trust in the process” due to misinformation generally about vaccines, and more specifically about the speed of the COVID-19 vaccine development process.

“You’re seeing individuals that aren’t the hardcore anti-vaxxers but rather those sort of hesitant groups — that group in the middle — and they’re worried about the speed, they’re worried about political interference and I think that’s largely emanating from the United States.”

Conservative health critic Michelle Rempel told the Star’s Kieran Leavitt that Sloan’s petition does not represent the party’s position, and said Canada “has one of the most rigorous review processes for health products, including vaccines, in the world.”

“I mean, seriously. So, there’s no question within our party of the need to have a COVID vaccine that has been approved by health regulators widely available to the Canadian public to combat the spread of COVID-19.”

“I do think that it’s incumbent upon the government, however, in collaboration with the provinces, to give Canadians information on where they can receive it, what it means in terms of potential immunity and efficacy.”

For Jason Lietaer, president of the strategic communications firm Enterprise and a former adviser to prime minister Stephen Harper, all political leaders should make it clear that a vaccine is expected to be a key tool to get out of the pandemic.

“You should be tough on the issue, not on the person. Mr. O’Toole and all political leaders should send a very quick and very clear message that our vaccines are safe,” he said.

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: