OTTAWA — The Canadian Construction Association has issued a statement in the form of a letter from CCA president Mary Van Buren discussing the association’s vaccine policy.
Van Buren notes in the Sept. 20 release that the CCA now requires anyone entering the office and anyone participating in an in-person CCA event to be fully vaccinated.
As for its members, Van Buren writes, “CCA encourages everyone to follow the advice and recommendations of our public health authorities and use the full range of the measures recommended by our public health authorities to reduce the risk and impact of COVID on ourselves, our families and our friends and colleagues.”
Health authorities are recommending a full range of measures, including hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing, testing, self-isolation and full vaccination, the statement notes. Some employers, public and private, are requiring full vaccination.
On the advice of health authorities, Van Buren writes, many provinces are rolling out vaccine passports. Many project owners are considering, and some have implemented, a requirement for full vaccination for access to construction project sites. And some CCA member firms are requiring full vaccination. The CCA’s website has a number of COVID-19 resources available at cca-acc.com/covid-19-resources.
It is highly disappointing to see this association fall in line with mandates supporting mandating vaccination versus respecting the rights of every Canadian citizen to privacy and to the right to freedom of choice in medical treatment. Even the Police Association and RCMP Association has made a stand against mandated vaccination, especially in the case of something that is still legally in trial phase. Denying the rights for gainful employment for those in the construction industry who some many families depend on is abhorrent in a free democracy.