In this episode, the Board of Trustees votes on a mandate for all staff to get a booster vaccine. Trustees vote on whether or not to mandate the vaccine, and who bears the liability if it is not given to staff?
00:00:00.000Trustee TD. Thank you, Chair. My next question is about, it was a question brought up by a lady named Angie. I didn't get her last name. She's the one that said she knows four people that have been adversely affected by the vaccines.
00:00:17.340And I received a call from a lady this week, and she said she was calling all the trustees. So I don't know if all of you received a call from her. And she told me a story about her 22 year old daughter that got a vaccine and has been paralyzed from the waist down ever since. So she hasn't been able to work for over a year.
00:00:34.440So my question is, if we encourage or coerce our staff into getting these mandates, and that happens to even one of our staff members, where does the liability lie? And who carries that responsibility?
00:00:54.560As this is a board discussion, my understanding is that there is no liability regarding this issue. We have been told there is. We've been told that we will be liable. We will be arrested and all that stuff. But I believe there is no liability to trustees making this decision in good faith.
00:01:20.500I will ask Secretary Treasurer if I will ask Secretary Treasurer to respond to liability for trustees or the senior staff, because trustees don't do anything like this and their senior staff would be following trustees.
00:01:40.460Mr. Stearman, can you say anything about liability?
00:01:42.820That's good. As for liability, we have been provided advice by the medical health officer that we are following agreed upon agreements and advice from the provincial government.
00:02:02.760And they're also, as the province had also introduced legislation that provides civil liability to businesses that are providing an essential service, operating a business or engage in activity that benefits the community, as long as they are following the necessary public health orders.
00:02:19.640And so, yeah, Mr. Cardell, do you have anything else to add?
00:02:22.780Just as long as we are following the provincial health mandates, orders, and processes that have been identified, we are indemnified in regards to liability.
00:02:36.940It can't prevent you from being sued, but you would be indemnified in that lawsuit.
00:02:41.840And the big part there is, are you sticking to agreements and mandates and guidance that's been provided by the provincial and legislation that's been provided by the provincial government?
00:02:53.940Okay, then, so my question would be on our insurance, DNO or ENO or whichever one we have.
00:02:59.300If our insurance is the one that would cover us when we're being sued and we get sued multiple times, will our insurance cover us multiple times?
00:03:07.500Again, we'd be indemnified is the answer I can give you, Leanne, at this time.
00:03:16.100That would be something I would like to know before I vote on a mandate like this.
00:03:21.300Well, I can't give you that specific legal advice.
00:03:24.620I can tell you that we have advice that we'd be indemnified if we proceeded with a mandate and we are indemnified if we don't and somebody gets sick and claims that they got it because we didn't do a mandate.
00:03:37.580So, as long as we're following provincial guidance, either way, we have indemnification.
00:03:46.420I don't know how you can measure that someone got sick because they didn't get a mandate for a vaccine, but I do know how you can measure that someone gets injured by a mandated vaccine.
00:03:57.420I'll go on to my next question because I don't think I'm going to get the answer I want on that one.