Quebec Premier François Legault, speaking at a press conference today, announced Quebec would place be creating a new “health contribution” for adults who have not yet taken a COVID vaccine for non-medical reasons.
Premier Legault did not specify the amount unvaccinated individuals would be forced to pay, though he did state that the charge would be “significant,” adding that a $50 or $100 fee would not be meaningful.
“The vaccine is the key to fight the virus,” Premier Legault stated. “This is why we’re looking for a health contribution for adults [who] refuse to be vaccinated for non-medical reasons.”
Those who continue to refuse a first dose of the vaccine ”in the coming weeks,” the premier said, “will have to pay a new health contribution.”
While Quebec reported more than 8,700 new cases and 188 hospitalizations on Tuesday, Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg, the executive director of the Jewish General Hospital and CEO of West-Central Montreal Health, told CTV News that the “wave may have peaked and we may be on our way down,” reported The Suburban.
The province reported more than 16,000 cases a day in early January, but has seen that number trending downward. Hospitalizations, meanwhile, have climbed to just shy of 2,750, a number the province hasn’t see since January 2021.
Premier Legault put the blame for healthcare costs on Quebec’s unvaccinated, saying that they “have a bill to pay because there are consequences on our healthcare network and it’s not up to all Quebecers to pay for this.”
It’s unclear if the premier has intentions to stretch this line of logic further, as such a measure would seemingly open the door to levying taxes on other individuals living ‘unhealthy’ lifestyles.
HD Editor’s Note:
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, which is the only political party in the country opposing the COVID induced tyranny, responded to the Quebec Premier’s announcement saying that it shows new levels of persecution faced by the unvaccinated.
“The government of François Legault is scapegoating a minority of unvaccinated citizens for problems that it itself is responsible for. And it is ready to go even further to persecute them,” Bernier, who lives in the Province, stated on Twitter.
In a video statement published on social media, the PPC Leader said that it is a sad day for many Quebecers.
“François Legault the premier of Quebec is going to impose a fine, an additional tax, on Quebecers who do not have a valid vaccine passport, those who are not vaccinated,” he explained. “So, In Quebec for the first time in history vaccination is mandatory.”
“That Government started by imposing a vaccine passport and denying access to certain public areas for unvaccinated people,” he described. “Now Quebec is willing to go much further and impose what is essentially a costly fine to peaceful citizens who refuse a health intervention. It is extremely disturbing. All that, based on mass hysteria they have created.”
According to the Premier, unvaccinated citizens are “irresponsible” and flooding the Provinces hospitals. That claim, which is often espoused by Canadian politicians justifying their heavy hand against the unvaccinated, comes despite statistics across Canada which show that a vast majority of those hospitalized by COVID are fully vaccinated.
Maxime Bernier responding to a poll suggesting that a majority of Canadians favorably view imposing a special tax on the unvaccinated, stated that “Fundamental rights don’t depend on majority opinion. Even if a majority approve of an immoral policy put forward by demagogues, it doesn’t make it right. That’s a basic tenet of a free society based on the rule of law.” (It is worth noting that Canadian conservatives, by and large, do not participate in polling, rendering the majority of political polls inaccurate).
There is growing hostility to those who have refused to comply with the government’s vaccine coercion.
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while appearing on a Quebec television station, questioned whether Canada should even “tolerate” the unvaccinated, which he said are “very often misogynistic and racist” individuals.
