Alberta’s plan to introduce legislation reaffirming the right to medical bodily autonomy this fall is being met with criticism from a legal expert who argues the right is already enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to amend the Alberta Bill of Rights in a video posted to social media on Tuesday morning.
When answering questions from reporters on Wednesday, she pointed to the COVID-19 Pandemic and vaccine mandates for government workers who were subsequently fired from their jobs for refusing to take the vaccine.
Despite the workers losing their jobs due to government requirements, they still had the bodily autonomy to make the conscious decision not to receive the vaccination.
“We’ve now had two judgments against us,” said Smith. “It was grieved by the nurse’s union and grieved by the Alberta union of provincial employees, and we lost, and we had to give compensation to the employees that were let go from their job …