Mississauga councillors must be fully vaxxed against COVID-19, or face testing, to attend meetings
Published September 29, 2021 at 12:12 pm
Starting Nov. 1, all City of Mississauga councillors who want to attend council and committee meetings in person must either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or face regular testing for the virus.
In approving the move this morning, councillors agreed they want to be subject to the same vaccination rules as the City’s more than 7,000 workers, and volunteers, who must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31 or face routine testing before being allowed into their workplace.
Employees or volunteers, and now City councillors, with valid claims for accommodation under the Ontario Human Rights Code will be accommodated, City officials say.
Ward 8 Councillor Matt Mahoney, who tabled the motion to amend the City’s Council Procedure Bylaw, said councillors must lead by example.
“It’s extremely important that we do this,” he said.
Ward 11 Councillor George Carlson echoed his colleague’s thoughts, saying rules for councillors must not be any tougher, or lighter, than those that apply to City staffers.
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Eleven of the City’s 12 councillors have said they are fully vaccinated, with Ward 4’s John Kovac declining to say if he’s received the vaccine.
Shari Lichterman, the City’s commissioner of corporate services, said earlier that the City’s 2,000 or so office employees who’ve been working from home during the pandemic are returning to their offices in stages in the coming months.
The remaining 5,000 workers have been working on-site, as their jobs demand.
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