Canadian leader considers dropping COVID lockdown charges, apologizes to unvaccinated

The premier of Alberta, Canada, said she is working on a plan to pardon residents who were fined or arrested over breaking coronavirus protocols, and apologized to unvaccinated Canadians who faced “discrimination.”

“I’m deeply sorry for anyone who was inappropriately subjected to discrimination as a result of their vaccine status,”Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday. “I am deeply sorry for any government employee that was fired from their job because of their vaccine status, and I welcome them back if they want to come back.”

Smith’s comment marks the first time the leader of a Canadian province has apologized for discriminating against the unvaccinated, according to Rebel News. 

Canada had some of the most stringent coronavirus mandates in the world, including making vaccinations mandatory in federally regulated workplaces, shutting down businesses for months, and arresting citizens if they were found violating lockdown protocols. 

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Smith delivered a speech at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting on Saturday and told the media after that she’s considering pardoning people who were arrested or fined for breaking lockdown orders.

“It was a political decision to throw out the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to put those fines in place in the first place, and I think it can be a political decision to make amends and apologize for it and eliminate them,” Smith said.

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She said that people who ​​”come to top of mind” are pastors who were penalized for disobeying the country’s COVID rules. 

“These are not things that are normal to get fines and get prosecuted for,” Smith said. “So I am going to look into the range of outstanding fines that there still are and to get some legal advice on which ones we are able to cancel and provide amnesty for.”

Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski, for example, was arrested and fined repeatedly since 2020 for breaking lockdown measures, including being jailed for over 50 days after he addressed a trucking convoy in Alberta.

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Earlier last week, Smith also called on businesses in the province to end their coronavirus vaccine requirements and said she’s working to make it illegal to discriminate against people based on vaccine status.

“The things that will be coming through within the fall as well, is a change to the Human Rights Code to make it illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of their COVID vaccination status,” Smith said Thursday, according to CityNews.

“I recognize that there are still some organizations and some businesses in Alberta, that are still doing that [discriminating], and I just want to give you a fair warning that we are going to be making a serious pivot in that regard,” Smith said.

Smith was sworn in as premier on Oct. 11, after former Alberta premier Jason Kenney stepped down this year as United Conservative Party leader.