Captian Hamilton of Reconnaissance Platoon, 1st Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, relays information from a vantage point during a village search in northern Kandahar, 24 April 2006. (Photo credit should read JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP via Getty Images)
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is planning to keep its vaccine mandate in place for positions requiring high readiness and deployments and to drop it for others, according to a draft directive obtained by The Epoch Times.
“Following a review of the current public health situation, notably the evolution of the virus and increased CAF vaccination rates, it has been decided that those positions requiring that members be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be restricted to those supporting core operational functions, or for the maintenance of operational readiness as described herein,” says the directive from the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) dated Sept. 27.
Those supporting “core operational functions” include personnel assigned to units or elements that need to deploy on short notice.
The directive mentions special operations high readiness forces and task forces, land forces Immediate Response Units, ready-duty ships and standby ready-duty ships, the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), non-combatant evacuation operations (NEO), contributions to NATO and the U.N., and contributions to multilateral partners.
In addition to the above, personnel would need to be fully vaccinated if placed on a notice-to-move of fewer than 45 days to deploy to a location that has no or limited access to medical care or that is in a country with a vaccine requirement for entry.
CAF members posted to work abroad on assignments, such as within Canadian diplomatic missions, will not be compelled to be vaccinated by their employer but rather will need to comply with the host nation’s requirement.
Forces placed on a readiness of over 45 days notice-to-move will not be subjected to a vaccine mandate, but when they’re placed on high readiness or deployed to a war zone the mandate will likely come into force.
This means the mandate will remain in effect for most soldiers wanting to serve on operations.
The directive says the mandate will be dropped in some CAF schools and educational establishments, static units and headquarters, and ceremonial units. It will also be dropped for the Canadian Rangers as well as for reservists who are not on high readiness and deploying to areas with limited access to medical care.
Prospective recruits will no longer need to be vaccinated to join the Forces, but they will need to be informed that some positions or operations may require COVID-19 injections.
Department of National Defence (DND) spokesperson Jessica Lamirande would not confirm whether the release of the new directive is coming soon.
“In terms of the CDS directive, there is no set timeline for any potential changes,” she told The Epoch Times.
Release of Members
The new directive will not apply to CAF members who are in the process of being released for not complying with the previous vaccination policy.
“Administrative reviews related to previous COVID-19 policy … for which a release decision has been rendered by Director Military Career Administration shall be actioned,” says the draft policy.
Meanwhile, those on remedial measures will be spared, but a mark will stay on their file.
DND says there are currently 449 CAF members whose file is under administrative review, which when completed leads to a dishonourable discharge under code 5f, “unsuitable for further service.”
Remedial measures have been initiated for 657 soldiers, DND says.
As of Sept. 13, 108 soldiers from the regular force have left the service citing mandatory vaccination as the main reason, and 299 have been kicked out for not complying with the vaccination policy.
The number of reservists who have refused vaccination hasn’t been made public since the mandate came into force, but The Epoch Times has confirmed that some have voluntarily quit due to the mandate.
Rationale
The draft directive explains the CAF’s rationale for modifying its mandate. It says over 96 percent of members have received a primary series of injections and mentioned vaccination helps prevent severe outcomes.
“This has helped to ensure a very low rate of hospitalizations and severe outcomes of infection, which has enabled a sufficient level of operational readiness to meet the many demands asked of the CAF throughout the pandemic,” the document says.
The CAF directive, like the Canadian government, acknowledges that vaccinations don’t stop infection.
“There are significant limitations in the ability of the vaccine to decrease transmission risk,” it says.
Lamirande told The Epoch Times that statistics on severe COVID-19 outcomes among CAF members prior to mass vaccination are not readily available. She also said DND does not keep statistics on adverse events after any type of vaccination.
Vaccine Injury
Vaccination against COVID-19 has been increasingly linked to a host of health problems. Some jurisdictions, such as certain Scandinavian countries, have stopped recommending vaccination for younger people or made recommendations against some brands of vaccine specifically for young men, due to risks of heart inflammation (myocarditis and pericarditis).
Health Ontario says cases of myocarditis and pericarditis post-vaccination have been occurring more frequently in males under 30, and at a higher rate with the Moderna injection.
Young males are a key demographic of the CAF and Moderna was used extensively to vaccinate the troops.
There have also been claims of vaccine injury among CAF members, according to an internal email obtained by The Epoch Times.
Sgt. Calvin Scott, a Royal Canadian Air Force airman, sent the email to his squadron in January. Another CAF member who received the email provided it to The Epoch Times.
Scott, who was reacting to CAF’s vaccine booster campaign, told his colleagues of his heart injury following vaccination and advised them to make an informed decision about getting a third dose.
“I am sending this information as I believe it is important for CAF members to have access to a wide breadth of information prior to making personal health decisions,” he wrote.
Scott said that he wasn’t against vaccines and that COVID-19 vaccination may be beneficial for some based on age, sex, and health status. In his email, he provided links to scientific literature on the risks of post-vaccination heart inflammation.
“I am currently medically grounded and will be wearing a heart monitor for reasons that appear to be tied to the original two COVID vaccine shots. Unfortunately, I also have two neighbours, both military, facing the same health issue and circumstance,” he wrote.
According to a former pilot from another squadron speaking on the condition of anonymity, the email was leaked from the squadron by pilots who were wary of the vaccine, and it made some waves.
Scott was reportedly threatened with charges and given a recorded warning for speaking out.
The latest CDS draft directive says boosters could become mandated depending on the circumstances, such as the emergence of a new virus variant or for a specific deployment.
‘Tweak’ of Mandate
A previous version of the draft that was leaked during the summer suggested that the CAF vaccine mandate would be dropped entirely. Later, Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre said the mandate would only undergo a “tweak.”
On Sept. 27, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the CAF to drop the mandate, while his party’s health critic, Michael Barrett, said keeping it mandatory for some operational purposes might be acceptable.
The Epoch Times sent a request to the Conservative Party to clarify its position on the mandate but did not receive a response before publication time.
