Quebec scraps planned tax on the unvaccinated

Quebec Premier Franois Legaultsays his government will not go ahead with a proposed tax on the unvaccinated, in order to protect "social cohesion" in the province.

Legault made the announcement at a newsconference Tuesday, where he also easedrestrictions on gyms and sports activities.

The tax, first announced in January by the premier, would have imposed a monetary penaltyon Quebecers who areeligible but who refuse to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Legault says while his government hasa bill ready to go, he's decided not to table itafter seeing"growing discontent" in the population.

Still,Legaultdenied that he was backing down due to demands by organizers of a protest planned forThursday in Quebec City.He said he had already begun to have discussions "last week" about scrapping the tax.

Interim public health directorDr. Luc Boileauconfirmed during the newsconference that he had not been asked whether he approved of the tax.

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Citing the division it caused in Quebec, Premier Franois Legault said the province is scrapping its plan to tax those who are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Details of the tax had remained vague, with Legault saying it could be included in provincial tax filings. He had saidhewanted the cost to be "significant," suggesting it would bemore than $100. Roughly 10 per cent of eligibleQuebecers remain unvaccinated.

Legaultreiterated Tuesday that data showsunvaccinated people are much more likely to end up in hospital and are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19.

But he said instead of a tax, the government will use different measures to try to persuade people to get vaccinated, such assending teams door-to-doorto offer at-home vaccination, or to encourage people to make an appointment.

Community advocates, bioethicistsand other experts raised concerns about the proposal, saying that more education was needed, instead of punitive measures. Others questioned the legal ramifications, saying the proposed taxcould run afoul of the Canada Health Act.

Vardit Ravitsky, a professor of bioethics at theUniversit de Montraland at Harvard medical school, says the tax would have had a disproportionate impact on low-income people.

Ravitsky believes the proposaltouched a nerve with many across the province and the country, because of how Canadian society views the right to health care.

"We see health as something that we get from the government free of charge, and the notion of attaching a tax or a penalty to the domain of health seems a step in the wrong direction," she said.

She says "carrots, not sticks" are right approach to persuading more people to be vaccinated.

Tax was not 'a serious plan' says opposition

Opposition parties accusedLegaultTuesday of only floating the idea of the taxin order to distract from the resignation of former public health director Dr. HoracioArruda, something Legault denies.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, houseleader for Qubec Solidaire, agreed that the tax was never "a serious plan,"adding that the government had wasted time with this debate, instead of focusing on rebuilding the health care system.

"It was something thrown in a press conference to make headlines. This is not how we should deal with a global pandemic," hesaid.

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Opposition leaders slam Legault government for unvaccinated tax saga

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The Quebec government is accused of irresponsibly improvising, manipulating the public and wasting the public's time by opposition leaders at the National Assembly.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Qubcois, accused the premier of "playing poker" with Quebecers and putting a strain on social cohesion in the province.

"We have a premier who takes his population for fools," said Plamondon.

"I was going to say, 'a premier who treats his population like children,' but I treat my children with more respect for their intelligence and with more transparency than the premier is doing right now with the Quebec population."

Christian Bourque, executive vice-president of the polling firm Leger, believes Legault may have been trying to tap into a sense of frustration amongthe vaccinated populationwhen he proposed the tax, but later realized it would be too difficult to implement.

Bourque believes scrapping the tax now serves a dual political purpose of giving the population a bit of "positive news" and allowing Legault to claim he is being flexible, by acknowledging the opposition's concerns.

"There have been several [times] now that he sort of backed off, but he always puts it off as, 'you know what, I'm just listening.' And he got away with it," said Bourque.

Both Anglade and Plamondonhave accused Legault and the CAQ of making decisions based on polling instead of science,noting that it is an election year. Quebecers will head to the polls to elect their provincial representatives this coming fall.