Saskatchewan: The Justice Centre has sent legal warning letters to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and Sask Polytechnic (Sask Poly) warning that unless their new Covid vaccination policies are reversed by November 26, 2021, legal proceedings will be commenced.
In lockstep on October 28, 2021, both the U of S and Sask Poly announced mandatory vaccinations for all students, staff and faculty, removing the alternative of twice weekly testing which has been in place since the start of the school year.
The new policies require all students, staff and faculty to be double (or triple, if eligible for a booster) vaccinated by early January 2022, forcing scores of students, staff and faculty to choose between education and their right to bodily autonomy.
The U of S’ policy includes exemptions on medical and religious grounds in accordance with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. The U of S fails to advise the public however, that it is largely rejecting exemption requests or in most cases, not even responding to exemption requests for several weeks. Even further, it has ordained itself as the arbiter of faith considerations for religious exemptions. Medical exemptions have become a difficult document for patients to receive in Canada, as a result of regulatory pressure on physicians not to provide them based on their medical judgement except in the most rare of circumstances.
The Sask Poly policy does not list exemptions other than for students who will not attend campus in-person when the next semester starts in January. Students at Sask Poly are having similar experiences applying for exemptions as those at the U of S.
The letters warn that both schools are seeking to deprive students from education on the basis of vaccination status, contrary to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Sections 2(a), 7, and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Justice Centre notes scientific data establishes the fact that Covid vaccinations do not prevent individuals from contracting and transmitting the virus and that natural immunity after a Covid infection (which the policies ignore) is more durable and longer lasting than vaccination.
The Justice Centre intends to proceed with litigation against the schools if they do not rescind their vaccination-only policies.
“The U of S crowns itself for academic freedom, diversity, equality, human dignity and a healthy work and learning environment, yet it has harshly terminated faculty for speaking on the hallmark principle of informed consent for Covid-19 vaccination of children,” states Andre Memauri, the Justice Centre’s Saskatoon-based lawyer and U of S alum. “Now, the U of S seeks to exclude and villainize those who decide for various reasons not to be vaccinated.”
“Without question, our community has been through a great deal of difficulty and it requires these institutions to lead as vessels of science not ideology,” continues Memauri. “The Justice Centre demands both schools follow the science and adopt policies that bring students together in the most safe and lawful manner. We are already receiving reports of students experiencing severe adverse reactions earning them a hospital visit.”
