Policy failed to provide constitutionally compliant medical exemptions: CCF
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia to challenge the constitutionality of the provincial government’s vaccine passport policy.
Under the B.C. vaccine passport policy, proof of full vaccination is required to access some events, services and businesses in the province. The policy took effect in September 2021.
In its petition, the CCF alleged that the province’s vaccine passport policy was constitutionally defective for failure to provide an “effective, comprehensive and accessible” regime for medical exemptions. It also argued that this lack of accommodation discriminates against persons with disabilities whose medical conditions prevent them from safely receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
The CCF sought to have the policy suspended to allow the Provincial Health Office to remedy the alleged constitutional defect.
“Our case deals with the urgent needs of individuals who cannot be vaccinated for good-faith medical reasons,” said CCF litigation director Christine Van Geyn. “Even individuals with clear-cut cases for medical exemptions cannot obtain general exemptions.”
The CCF filed the petition alongside three individuals who cannot be fully vaccinated due to their respective medical conditions. These individuals include:
- A teenage girl, who developed heart inflammation after her first dose of COVID vaccine;
- A pregnant woman, who suffered from nerve damage following her first dose of COVID vaccine;
- A woman with complex and overlapping disabilities who has undergone approximately 15 surgeries.
“This failure by the B.C. government has had a grossly discriminatory impact on our individual petitioners and is unconstitutional,” Geyn said.
