(OTTAWA) The Department of National Defense says formal proceedings have been launched against more than 900 members of the Canadian Armed Forces for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Posted at 3:36 p.m.
Chief of Defense Staff General Wayne Eyre ordered all service members to certify that they had been fully vaccinated by mid-October. The deadline was later extended to mid-December.
Proceedings were initiated against 100 members of the Armed Forces in late December for repeatedly declining to receive their injections, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier. Some 800 others received warnings, orders to undergo counseling services and corrective measures. They could also be forced to hang up their uniforms if they do not get vaccinated.
Mr. Le Bouthillier said that 44 full-time members of the Armed Forces volunteered to leave their jobs rather than get vaccinated, as well as an unknown number of part-time reservists.
In December, the Federal Court rejected a request by several members of the Armed Forces to prevent their employer from forcing them to be vaccinated. It’s the latest in a string of legal defeats for federal government workers battling vaccine requirements.