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City of North Bay suspends its COVID-19 employee vax policy

Upon the implementation of the local policy, introduced in October 2021 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, municipal employees were warned: 'Non-compliance with this policy may result in discipline up to and including termination.'
2022 01 08 North Bay City Hall Council Chambers (Gage Campaigne)
North Bay City Hall and Council Chambers

Following an in-camera session at the tail end of Tuesday's regular meeting of North Bay City Council, the members emerged and it was announced they had passed a resolution approving the suspension of the City of North Bay's employee vaccination policy.

See original story: City employees will need to show proof of full vaccination status

The policy had been in place since October 2021. According to the agenda, council members were to receive a confidential report from Wanda Trottier, the human resources director, but few other details about who pushed for the policy change are available due to the closed session rules.

"When the City instituted a vaccine policy it was based on the advice of public health and was aimed at protecting staff and the public," says Gord Young, communications officer. "Today, the situation related to COVID-19 is much different and the advice of public health has changed in that we’re in a lower-risk environment, and that the need for vaccination policies is no longer necessary."

The policy applied to all City of North Bay employees, members of council and members of council-appointed committees, and volunteers.

Upon the implementation of the local policy, introduced in October 2021 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, municipal employees were warned: "Non-compliance with this policy may result in discipline up to and including termination."

By December 2021, 11 City of North Bay employees had been terminated for violating the policy and a 12th has since been fired. Young confirms 11 of those terminated employees have pursued arbitration and that process is ongoing.

See related: City vax policy unchanged; fate of fired 12 still in limbo

The union representing the fired City of North Bay employees filed grievances for all of its terminated members late in 2021. CUPE Local 122 president Brent Lavigne said then the union had also filed a policy grievance demonstrating how unreasonable and uneven the implementation of the policy was.

Last week the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board maintained its COVID-19 workplace vaccination protocol for a further year following the approval of its board of directors on Wednesday. The main offices of DNSSAB are located in North Bay City Hall.

Municipal employee vaccination policies have been lifted in Toronto, West Nipissing, and Powassan, among others.

On Dec. 1, 2022, the City of Toronto cancelled its vaccination policy with the disclaimer that "the City will continue to closely monitor its COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy to ensure that it continues to optimally protect the health and safety of employees in the workplace and the public we serve. If it is determined that additional precautions are necessary, the City may decide to deploy new measures to protect employees and the public from COVID-19, and will amend this policy accordingly."


Stu Campaigne

About the Author: Stu Campaigne

Stu Campaigne is a full-time news reporter for BayToday.ca, focusing on local politics and sharing our community's compelling human interest stories.
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