Mississauga pushes for Ontario-wide proof of vaccination

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Published August 25, 2021 at 12:11 pm

City of Mississauga officials won’t decide until tomorrow morning if they’ll mandate more than 5,000 employees to either get a COVID-19 vaccination or face regular testing.

But City councillors who held a two-hour behind-closed-doors session with legal staff at a special Council meeting this morning to discuss the matter, did, with one exception, throw their support behind Mayor Bonnie Crombie’s effort to push the provincial government for an Ontario-wide proof of vaccination program.

Ward 9 Councillor Pat Saito, who tabled the motion to support a call two weeks ago from Peel’s medical officer of health Dr. Lawrence Loh and Crombie for the Province to take the bold step, said City Council must get on board. Her colleagues, for the most part, agreed. Ward 4 Councillor John Kovac was the lone councillor to vote against the motion

“It’s important that we, officially as a council, endorse (this),” said Saito.

Loh joined Crombie in her earlier call for an Ontario-wide program. They said the onset of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has made such action vital.

Crombie said it’s important to have Council behind the effort.

“It gives (the call for an Ontario-wide program) more clout,” she said.

Meanwhile, the City will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to talk more about plans for a vaccine program for its staff. Many staffers are preparing to come back to work on site this fall, and early next year.

The City is weighing a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine plan for its employees, but is moving cautiously on that front pending more information from legal staff.

“When it comes to vaccination policies, there is a lot to consider and many potential issues to address,” Crombie said late last week. “As with all things COVID-related, this is all new and evolving quickly. There is no playbook.”

Last Friday, the City of Toronto announced its plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, or testing, for its workers. And in the last two weeks, both the Ontario and federal governments announced they’ll adopt strict vaccination rules for their employees.

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