Open Letters
RE: Covid-19 vaccination policies at post-secondary institutions in Ontario
February 2022 | Canadian Academics for Covid Ethics
“We are writing to voice our serious concerns regarding the province’s latest reopening plan. In particular, we are alarmed that it does not include the removal of vaccine mandates at post-secondary institutions. You assured the public that the pandemic restrictions would not stay in place a minute longer than necessary. By the province’s …”
Free North Declaration
November 2021 | Rights Probe
“We are Canadian lawyers. In our country, civil liberties are under unprecedented attack. Governments, public health authorities, universities, public and private employers, municipalities, and businesses are trampling Canadians’ rights and freedoms. Our free society is at risk. Covid rules restrict citizens’ abilities to work, shop, travel and socialize. They erode civil liberties strategically, attempting to …”
A Letter to the Vaccinated
August 2021 | Ontario Civil Liberties Association
“Prime Minister Trudeau recently warned that “there will be consequences” if federal employees do not comply with vaccine mandates. This is a voice of tyranny that has reverberated fear and heightened agitation across our country. It has launched our nation into deep division around mass vaccination and brought our collective recovery from this pandemic to a critical head. In fact, it forces us, as a country, to finally ask: indeed, what are those …”
Special Issue on Covid Policies and Universities
October 2021 | the Society for Academic Freedom & Scholarship
In October of 2021, Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship published their 90th newsletter, a special issue on COVID policies within universities to explore the implications of the recent vaccination mandates on the academic integrity of higher education institutions. Over a dozen professors and academics contributed to this issue covering various aspects of these policies.
Open letters to U of T re COVID-19 vaccine mandates
August 2021 | Students for COVID Ethics
“We believe that a student’s medical history and medical decisions should not be the basis for differential treatment by an academic institution. Students should not be required to disclose their medical history or wear it like a badge of honour or shame — through differential treatment or other means — for their fellow students and faculty members to see and judge. It is typically argued…”
A Letter to the Unvaccinated
August 2021 | Ontario Civil Liberties Association
“You are not alone! As of 28 July 2021, 29% of Canadians have not received a COVID-19 vaccine, and an additional 14% have received one shot. In the US and in the European Union, less than half the population is fully vaccinated, and even in Israel, the “world’s lab” according to Pfizer, one third of people remain completely unvaccinated. Politicians and the media have taken a uniform view, …”