B.C. Supreme Court upholds vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

British Columbia’s Supreme Court has upheld provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s mandate requiring COVID vaccinations for healthcare workers https://tnc.news/2024/05/16/b-c-court-upholds-vaccine-mandate/

This case was a HUGE injustice to democracy and the rule of law

Justice Coval bypassed the Oakes test and found the public health orders reasonable, even if they worked remotely or held administrative roles.

The Oakes test was created by the Supreme Court of Canada as a framework for deciding whether government action that infringes a Charter right is justified. Before using this test, a Charter right must be proven to have been infringed.

In this case the Judge admits it was infringed but decided it was justified, without even using the Oakes test!

If a charter right is infringed, the government (Dr Bonnie Henry in this case) has the burden of proving that it has complied with the requirements of the test and that the infringement is therefore justified.

These are the four steps of the Oakes test:

Step 1 – The government that infringed the Charter right must explain the objective of its impugned law or conduct. The objective must be pressing and substantial.

Step 2 – The government must demonstrate that the law or policy is rationally connected to the pressing and substantial objective. If the law or policy is arbitrary or serves no logical purpose, then it will not meet this standard.

Step 3 – The government must demonstrate that the law or policy is minimally impairing of the Charter right. This means that the law must impair the Charter right as little as possible or is “within a range of reasonably supportable alternatives.”

Step 4 – The government must demonstrate that the beneficial effects of the law or policy are not outweighed by its negative effects on the Charter right in question. This is generally known as the proportionality requirement.

If the government fails at any of the steps within the Oakes test, the infringement is not justified.

In this case there was no consideration for people who may have had natural immunity, there was no consideration that some people worked remotely and therefore posed no threat to anyone at their place of employment.

This case should have failed the Oakes test, perhaps that is why the judge did not use it.

https://tnc.news/2024/05/16/b-c-court-upholds-vaccine-mandate/