Journalists are misleading Canadians about vaccine hesitancy
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Summary
The media have created a misleading narrative about vaccine hesitancy in Canada, and for once, that s bad news for Justin Trudeau. Today, we re asking, who are the holdouts on vaccines in Canada? Is it the right wing, the left wing, or the middle ground?
Transcript
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The media have created a misleading narrative about vaccine hesitancy in Canada.
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And for once, that's bad news for Justin Trudeau.
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I'm Candice Malcolm and this is The Candice Malcolm Show.
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Conventional wisdom in Canada these days seems to say that the people who have vaccine hesitancy,
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sometimes pejoratively referred to as anti-vaxxers in the media,
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but that those people are a fixture of the political right.
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Many journalists seem to think that those holding out on vaccines and those that are most skeptical
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and therefore dragging out COVID, making us all at risk of more cases,
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that this is the fault of conservatives and people on the fringe far right.
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Here is journalist Jonathan Kay making the bizarre case that because people in Prince Edward Island
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apparently don't trust outsiders, that means that conservatives are the holdouts.
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Even though every single seat in Prince Edward Island federally is held by the liberals
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and the liberals have swept PEI for the last two elections.
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In fact, conservatives have only won two seats out of the last 10 elections.
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But somehow Jonathan Kay is blaming conservatives.
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which basically tries to blame vaccine hesitancy on rural conservatives on the prairies.
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It says this while Canada's vaccination rates are among the highest in the world.
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Some of the country's lowest can be found in the prairies with Alberta and Manitoba reporting
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vaccination rates as low as 16% in certain regions.
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And as Danica McClellan points out, she writes,
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It says, however, Alberta health officials have said that these numbers may be low
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because First Nations reserves in the province ran their own vaccination drives
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and those numbers are not included in regional tallies.
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So the numbers aren't even complete or correct.
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But I guess accuracy and honesty isn't exactly what CTV is going for.
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The media insists on this incorrect idea that it's conservatives who are holding out on the vaccines.
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And then they argue that, therefore, this presents an opportunity for the liberals.
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This strategy allows liberals in politics and the media to demonize what they call the anti-vaxxers,
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to condemn what they call selfish right-wingers as potentially being responsible for prolonging
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And this allows for them to push this idea of forced vaccines and implementing a vaccine passport,
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Here's a liberal lobbyist saying just that in the Globe and Mail.
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The article headline reads, vaccine passports could win Trudeau a majority.
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This is why Trudeau recently announced that he is looking into forcing employees of the
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federal government and federally regulated industries to get vaccinated.
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Those who are hesitant to go and get their first doses and their second doses.
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That's why I've asked the clerk of the Privy Council, who is responsible for the federal
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public service, to look at mandatory vaccinations for federal employees.
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I thought liberals believed in my body, my choice.
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But it seems increasingly clear that liberals think forcing people to get vaccinated is a
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winning election strategy and presents a pathway to victory in the forthcoming election, which
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Perhaps it could be starting as soon as this weekend.
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I don't want to give advice to the liberals here, but I think they're all wrong about who
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First, take a look at this report by a longtime liberal insider and strategist.
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It's actually remarkable just given how self-aware it is.
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It says, typical vaccine hesitant person is a 42-year-old Ontario woman who votes liberal,
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If they were voting in a federal election today,
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35% would vote liberal, 25% conservative, 17% NDP, 9% green.
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Pretty similar to overall voting intentions for the entire society.
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However, compared to the vaccinated, they don't have a lot of trust in government.
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They also try to avoid prescriptions, dislike putting anything unnatural in their bodies,
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and 83% say they are reluctant to take vaccines.
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Most worry that COVID-19 vaccines haven't really been tested for a long time.
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Just under half hate needles and 43% believe that if others get vaccinated, they don't
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A third say their doctor could persuade them, and a quarter say friends and family can.
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A similar number say they will get vaccinated if it makes attending events and traveling easier.
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So that sort of throws a wrench into the whole concept and narrative that conservatives are
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the anti-vaxxers, and it gets even worse for the liberals.
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It further bursts the bubble of a potential forced vaccine campaign by the liberals.
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Trudeau ignores impact of mandatory vaccines on First Nations Black Canadians.
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A Statistics Canada COVID-19 vaccine willingness survey from March 26, 2021, reveals that Black
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Canadians have the lowest willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine, with just 56.6% saying
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they would, while Indigenous Canadians have the second lowest rate, at 71.8%.
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Certain subgroups in Canada are more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
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These include Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, and younger adults, among others.
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This is according to a federal government backgrounder on vaccine hesitancy intended for
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So Black Canadians, Indigenous, newcomers, and young adults.
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Hmm, that doesn't exactly sound like the French far-right to me.
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And it gets even more interesting when you think about this in the context of forcing
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federally regulated employees to get vaccinated, as Trudeau said that he is currently exploring.
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According to the Government of Canada's website on federally regulated industries and workplaces,
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First Nations band councils, including certain community services on reserve, are included
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in the list of organizations that are federally mandated, and therefore would fall under Trudeau's
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Is Trudeau seriously going to force First Nations band leaders and reservation staff to get
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First Nations people in this country have every right to say no.
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And frankly, they have very valid reasons to be skeptical or unwilling to trust the federal
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government with their healthcare decisions, just given the history in this country.
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I cannot imagine in a thousand years, Justin Trudeau forcing First Nations individuals to
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So if he can't force them in that area, can you really enforce it on other employees?
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Likewise, only about half the Black population in Canada say that they're willing to get vaccinated.
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So are the Liberals really going to try to demonize this community?
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If the opposition parties in this country have any sense, they'll bring this up and ask Trudeau
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They'll bring it up every time he talks about the unvaccinated or flirts with the idea of
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Is he really going to take communities that are already marginalized, perhaps they're already
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impoverished and excluded, and exacerbate that chism by saying that Indigenous people,
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Black Canadians, newcomers, and young people will no longer be able to access certain services,
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enter certain parts of their society, and potentially get jobs or work in the federal
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service or federally regulated industries just because they have an aversion to this new
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Now, remarkably, no one in the media has thought to ask Trudeau about this.
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Nobody asked Trudeau whether he would force vaccines on First Nations leaders, and you
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Story says this, a CBC news report on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that
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his government would pursue making vaccines mandatory for federally regulated industries
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omitted the fact that the mandate would also apply to First Nations bans and services.
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The August 5th article entitled, Trudeau asks top public servant to look into mandatory
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vaccination for federal workers, made no mention of First Nations communities when listing
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It says the Prime Minister also said the government is looking into making vaccines mandatory in
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federally regulated industries such as the airline banking and rail sectors, the article
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said, failing to mention First Nations ban councils and reserve staff.
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Now, in an email to Trudeau, a CBC spokesman said that the article was merely highlighting some
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The story was a very broad overview of a new proposal and highlighted some of the areas,
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As the story continues to unfold and policies firm up, we will report on potential impacts
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Well, I won't hold my breath waiting for the CBC to challenge Justin Trudeau or to try to
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But Canadians, on the other hand, should challenge the Liberals on this idea of forced vaccines,
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and they should hold Justin Trudeau accountable for introducing a policy that could potentially
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be very bad for Black Canadians and for those who are First Nations.
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I'm Candace Malcolm, and this is The Candace Malcolm Show.