The Council of the Township of Whitewater Region heard an motion to:
Approve a Vaccination Policy for Employees, with a staged approach, inclusive of testing, accommodation and exemptions, as outlined in the policy.
Approve a Vaccination Policy for Council and volunteers serving on task forces, with a staged approach, inclusive of electronic participation, as outlined in the policy.
Direct the Clerk to provide the policies to boards, commissions and outside bodies with representation from the Township of Whitewater Region for consideration.Councillor Chris Olmstead expressed disagreement in applying the policy, saying he was “not happy with the policy as presented.
“I have the greatest compassion for anyone who suffers from this disease.” Councillor Olmstead said.
“After two years we have good data.” he said. “I want to go through the data, remove all the emotions and data. I couldn’t say enough about the quality of data that the Renfrew County health has.”
He quoted 50% of families as ‘suffering some mental health issue” said that that “a lot of them are happening because of what’s happening here.”
“I think it’s too early to tell the staff and put a gun to their heads and say ‘take this vaccine’.”
“At what point do we start going back to normal?” he said.“We’ve had zero cases for months on end. we’ve already got people coming to me saying they’ve lost their jobs.”
He claimed that it was unfair to ask people to ‘pay out of their pockets’ for testing if they did not take the vaccine.
“I hope we use this to make good laws and wise decisions.” he said.
“The one thing I disagree on is that we are not making a health choice for them.” Charlene Jackson said. “We are not saying ‘you are getting the vaccine. There are a lot of employers that are forcing their employees to get the vaccine; hydro for one, health care for another. We are not one of them.”
“I think if we were gonna do this, we should have done this two months ago.” Councillor Dave Mackay said. He said he was “of two minds” of the testing policies.
“I was appalled that twelve employees came to you, Councillor Olmstead, I’m the head of Human Resources, I haven’t heard a boo.” Reeve Regier said.
Mayor Moore asked if they could but an end-date on the policy, which CAO Trembley said was possible.
“Things change so quickly, and the first phase is December 1sts. Even in those stages, there will be time to review.” Trembley said.”
“We need to have a policy not to force people, but to protect people.” Councillor Daryl McLaughlin said. “I remember when we were doubleshifting the road crew, and we can’t do that in the wintertime. We need to be proactive and protect the employees as much as possible.”
“If we could find some way to ease the pain [of paying for testing], we should, but we need to have a policy.”
He said he “Wasn’t aware of that many people not being tested.”
“I could stand behind this if the tests weren’t paid for.” Councillor Dave Mackay said, saying they could lose “six to seven people” from the volunteer firefighters due to their Mennonite beliefs forbidding vaccines.
Treasurer Sean Crozier said that the COVID funding was anticipated to disappear in the coming year as the pandemic restrictions are eased.
“We’ve taken some significant losses in arenas.” Trembley said.
After a five minute break, Councillor Nicholson commented that ‘the input was good’ in the previous discussion.
“I personally believe that we are required to provide a safe work environment for our staff, but I will not judge.” he said. “It’s not our responsibility to review their situation, and our position to provide safety for them. I’m glad there’s an option for employees to work through the testing, but I’m concerned for discrimination between vaccinated, and non-vaccinated employees.”
He wanted to make two amendments to the motion: one that it be completely funded by the Township for any tests, and that there needed to a mandated review date to review the policy.
“I want to force this debate again.”
CAO Trembley said he would want to see the policy reviewed before February.
“I would prefer it was reimbursement over procurement.” Treasurer Crozier said, saying it was easier on the township to reimburse the employee for the testing cost rather than paying for it in advance.
Councillor Jackson said that who was reimbursed meant knowing who was reimbursed and presented knowledge to too many people regarding who was vaccinated.
Mayor Moore said that the amendment would be provided that the employee could have “reimbursement if they so choose,”
The motion for amending for was carried, and the amended timeline was carried.
Councillor Olmstead abstained from voting on the original motion.
The original motion was voted on by recorded vote.Councillor McLaughlin, Nicholson, Jackson, Mackay, Mayor Moore, and Reeve Regier.
