“The principle behind the vaccine passport is that people who have made the effort to get their two doses should be able to live a semi-normal life,” provincial prime minister Francois Legault told a press conference regarding the mandate, according to the AFP news agency.
“We will give certain privileges to those who have agreed to make the effort to get their two shots,” Legault said. His comments were praised by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told reporters: “I fully support the initiative of Mr. Legault and the Quebec government.”
Trudeau, meanwhile, said that he is considering mandating the vaccine for all government employees.
In another part of the Francosphere, France’s Parliament passed a law that was upheld by the country’s high court last week that mandates so-called “health passes” to enter restaurants, theaters, gyms, and long-distance travel. Those health passes would require citizens to have had either a recent negative COVID-19 test or be fully vaccinated.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in a number of French cities took to the streets on Saturday and Sunday to protest the mandate, with some describing it as a form of tyranny.
“The only way to patronize these establishments indoors will be if you’re vaccinated,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the time. If we’re going to stop the Delta variant, the time is now.”
In the United States, vaccine passport systems have been flagged by groups like the ACLU as a potential violation of citizens’ individual liberties. Several GOP-led states have also passed laws or executive orders to prevent vaccine passports.
“The mayor saying one thing, the governor saying another thing, the CDC saying yet another thing,” Karla Martinez, manager of Chirp restaurant in Manhattan’s Garment District, said last week.
Mostafa Zouini, manager at nearby Cafe Aroma, noted that the rule will make customers unhappy. “They used to get mad and leave,” he said.
