Trudeau’s government has quietly lifted several advisories against non-essential travel to multiple countries less than 24 hours after announcing a federal vaccine passport.
“Be aware that although you are better protected against serious illness if you are vaccinated, you may still be at risk of infection from the virus that causes COVID-19,” the updated advisory reads.
“If you’re unvaccinated, you remain at increased risk of being infected with and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 when travelling internationally. You should continue avoiding non-essential travel to all destinations.”
For months before his re-election, Trudeau claimed that he would not enforce a vaccine passport federally, saying it was up to the provinces.
It turns out he was just waiting for them to all fall in line. Now that they have, the federal government is going full steam ahead into the apartheid state.
While speaking to reports, Trudeau said that one of the biggest reasons for a federal vaccine passport is so that people can resume travelling internationally.
“We are very confident that this proof of vaccination certificate that will be federally approved, issued by the provinces with the health information for Canadians, is going to be accepted at destinations worldwide as proof of vaccination,” Trudeau said.
BREAKING: Here's a first look at a federal, standardized vaccine passport, which is already published on the government's website.
The website says that in every province or territory, page one will look like the Yukon sample shown below. pic.twitter.com/4kRJ5zMBqY
— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) October 21, 2021
He added that the federal vaccine passport is a standardized form of those issued in most provinces.
“It will be a step, for the vast majority of people, at the virtual check-in where they simply have to scan their QR code, and they will get a boarding pass that is clearly marked upon it ‘vaccination approved’ So there is no actual slowdown,” he said.
“It’s a single extra step on check-in, in a digital way, but it will not be overly onerous for anyone in the process.”
Trudeau also stated that the vaccine passport would not be connected to Canadians’ regular passports and additional identification records. Still, it is not clear if this will always be the case — after all, the federal vaccine passport is being made for the sake of convenience and standardization.
It is also not clear whether vaccine status is permanent or if Canadians will lose their travel rights for refusing booster shots in the future, as the federal government still feels the need to monitor vaccination rates as if they are waiting for it to go down.
“The Government of Canada will continue to assess available data and indicators—including the vaccination rate of Canadians, the border test positivity rate, and the epidemiological situation globally and in Canada―and adjust advice as needed,” a Health Canada spokesperson said in an email to CTV News.
Why should vaccination rates be monitored if they are already high enough to justify lifting travel restrictions and ending non-essential travel advisories?
Are they worried vaccine rates will go down or become null? Only time will tell.
