Vaccine certificates cannot wait: Ontario NDP

SARNIA AND TORONTO — Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP support vaccine certificates — and say that the stubborn rise in COVID cases shows that a certificate program can’t wait.

“Doug Ford must follow the advice of the Science Table and bring in an Ontario Vaccine Certificate program. His choice to do nothing is harmful to public health, hurts our economic recovery and is a confusing burden for people and local businesses,” said Horwath. “The millions of Ontarians who did the right thing and got a vaccine deserve a certificate program that will help us return to normal life.”

Taras Natyshak, the NDP critic for Job Creation and Economic Recovery, said small businesses need certificates to keep them safe and operating.

“Asking every individual business to design a different system for themselves with no provincial guidance is a mess, and it’s already been a horrible burden for people and businesses,” said Natyshak. “Local businesses have been through enough — now Ford is asking them each to create a system on their own to try to keep COVID at bay and keep themselves, their workers and their customers safe. Ford’s showing again that he’s no friend to small businesses and working folks, and that he just doesn’t want to invest in public health.”

NDP Health critic France Gélinas said certificates are critical to keep people healthy.

“The government has to do more to help every eligible Ontarian overcome systemic barriers and get vaccinated, and to take measures now to stop the spread,” said Gélinas.

“Designing a vaccine certificate program comes with some challenges, but Doug Ford’s choice to do nothing presents big problems for public health and conquering COVID-19. Certificates are one of the temporary public health measures we need to end this nightmare.”