Quebec gives up taxing non-vaccinated people to avoid dividing its population, we see the discontent growing day by day
Sylvie Claire / February 2, 2022
Quebec announced on Tuesday the abandonment of the health contribution, the tax for non-vaccinated people introduced earlier this month, sparking strong reactions in the French-speaking Canadian province.
Worried that his population is divided, Quebec Premier François Legault has decided to back away from his bill at a time when, he says, we are seeing the discontent grow by the day.
In order to move Quebec forward in a serene social climate, I am announcing that the government will not introduce this bill on the health contribution, he declared at a press conference.
This tax proposal presented on January 11 was intended as an incentive to convince non-vaccinated people to immunize themselves against Covid-19, but François Legault now believes that this announcement has divided Quebecers.
This is not the first time Quebec has backed down on a health measure. In the fall, the Legault government wanted to make vaccination mandatory for all health care workers, but ultimately suspended the measure to avoid weakening a system already suffering from a labour shortage.
Quebec also announced on Tuesday that sports and arts activities (gyms, spas, etc.) for adults will be allowed to resume from February 14 up to 25 people.
After an unexpected closure on New Year's Eve, restaurants were able to reopen on Monday and extracurricular sports activities in schools and universities were able to resume.
To date, nine out of ten Quebecers have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, while 61% have received a third dose.
This is not enough, reacted the Premier of Quebec, hoping that the vaccination rate will increase in the days and weeks to come.