A majority of Liberals have reportedly turned on PM Justin Trudeau over his refusal to drop the travel ban on unvaccinated Canadians.
Speaking to The Hill on a not-for-attribution basis (they wanted their names protected), several Liberal MPs have disagreed with Trudeau’s position, saying that a majority of the caucus wants the mandates to end and for the unvaccinated to go free.
“The massive majority of Liberal MPs want the mandates to end,” said one Liberal MP.
“People are saying ‘What the hell, why are [unvaccinated] people not allowed to fly domestic, you know, like, at least let them fly domestic with masks on. You can go into a shopping mall with them; you can go into an elevator with them; you can go into a movie theatre with them.”
Liberal MP and medical doctor Marcus Powlowski was braver, publicly stating that dropping the mandates is long overdue.
“The need for mandates is certainly changed, and the calculus is not the same now as it was two months ago, three months, or six months ago. I would suggest that the vaccine requirements for being on planes and at workplaces at the moment, I don’t think the benefits of that mandate warrant the cost,” Powlowski said.
With that said, he still believes that the mask mandate for travelling on a plane is warranted, even though both the US and the EU dropped theirs without a problem.
However, unlike some Liberal MPs and the mainstream media, Powlowski says that you are basically at the same risk whether you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated. Again, the travel ban on the unvaccinated doesn’t make sense.
“It’s everyone, whether you’re vaccinated or [not], and especially if you’re going to put a bunch of people on the plane, some of whom are non-vaccinated and things, then there is increased risk. So I would probably keep the mask mandate, that would be my opinion,” he said.
The House of Commons isn’t the only source of a potential coup from within the Liberal Party, though.
The Senate is also rebelling.
Earlier this year, Trudeau-appointed Liberal Senator Marilou McPhedran confirmed that there was a growing movement within the Senate, including many Liberals, to stop Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act.
“Just to point out that the day on which the declaration was ended by the government, there was already a movement among a significant number of senators and MPs, including some Liberals, to come up with the requisite signatures to begin the process of ending the declaration, and we didn’t end up having to do that,” McPhedran said.
She continues, saying that Trudeau caught wind of the plan and ended it himself.
“The government was well aware that we were fairly far along in creating that joint letter that was required under this particular section, and instead, there was the decision just to suspend.”
With both the House and Commons so fragrantly breaking rank with Trudeau, a successful vote of no confidence appears more likely, should one be called in the future.
