Ottawa Police Service avoiding lawsuits through lack of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination: Union president
Posted Oct 27, 2021 03:49:00 PM.
Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof believes the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is saving taxpayers money by implementing a COVID-19 policy which does not make vaccination mandatory.
Ottawa City Councillor Tim Tierney asked, Tuesday, October 27, who is paying for unvaccinated OPS employees to take rapid tests every 72 hours. It turns out, the city is.
“The amount of money that Chief [Peter] Sloly has saved the taxpayers in pursuing this policy exponentially outstrips the cost of what this program may be.” Skof told CityNews' The Rob Snow Show on Wednesday. “Legal expenses, when you are looking at challenges from a human rights perspective or people seeking some sort of injunction through the courts — we're talking hundreds-of-thousands of dollars.”
When challenged by Snow, that it could cost the city more if people end up in hospital on ventilators because police officers are not vaccinated, Skof implied that rapid testing will do a good enough job and suggested that even workplaces with mandatory vaccination policies should still do rapid testing.
Plus, the union boss said vaccination numbers among Ottawa police officers are probably higher than the 85 per cent reported most recently by Chief Sloly.
“We're looking more in the mid-90s [percentage-wise], I think, because there are members who also just, by their own conscientious objection to it, not declared their status.”
Skof believes the numbers reported by Sloly are “responsible,” but believes the actual figure could be higher.
Listen to the full Rob Snow Show interview with Skof:
