Peace River MLAs call on province to lift mandate on unvaccinated healthcare workers to help with staffing shortages

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Peace River MLAs Dan Davies and Mike Bernier spoke in the legislature on March 11th, saying the healthcare system is broken and unvaccinated healthcare workers must return due to staffing shortages.

According to the MLAs, around one million, or one out of five British Columbians, do not have a family doctor due to insufficient staff on duty. 

The province has experienced longer wait times, unavailable services and delays in refilling prescriptions, according to Davies and Bernier. 

Bernier asked why the government is only recognizing the crisis in an election year and urging the assembly to relieve pressures on the system and provide people with better access to healthcare services. 

“How is this the British Columbia that we should be proud of for our medical system when it’s utterly failing people,” said Bernier. 

The Peace River South MLA spoke on concerns over Chetwynd hospitals diversions and long wait times for the emergency room in Dawson Creek. 

“Let’s get all the unvaccinated healthcare workers that were let go by this province back to work.”

A news release from the B.C. government in December 2023 says the healthcare workforce has been expanded and increased public access by adding more doctors, nurses and health sciences professionals, adding new education, and taking actions to improve retention.

According to the release, 3,882 family physicians, as well as 6,258 new nurses, have registered with the B.C. College of Nurses.

“We’re putting people first by making unprecedented investments into B.C.’s healthcare workforce and system,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health.

Next year, the B.C. government will move forward with more actions to provide better support to healthcare workers and patients. 

Some of the steps include retaining healthcare workers with peer support programs, recruiting more people to the healthcare sector with expanded opportunities and recruitment campaigns, further expanding the employed-student nurse program, and more. 

“We are taking the next step in increasing access to public health care for people in B.C.,” said Dix.

MLA Davies questioned the public health strategies of the government and if they believed in the science that governs the province. 

“Our health care system, once the pride of our province, is now in a state of undeniable crisis,” said Davies. 

Both MLAs said an immediate solution to help with the staffing shortages is to rehire unvaccinated workers. 

According to a B.C. government spokesman who talked to KelownaNow in December 2023, the government has maintained that the vaccine mandate is not linked to staffing shortages and is still strongly supported by healthcare workers. They added that the requirements must stay in place to protect the province’s most vulnerable. 

According to Davies, 2,500 healthcare workers have been sidelined due to vaccine mandates. 

“The question that looms over this assembly is will the NDP government take the necessary steps to rehire workers that have been dismissed under this divisive policy,” said Davies. 

Davies went on to say that British Columbia is Canada’s only province enforcing COVID-19 restrictions on unvaccinated healthcare workers, while every other province has dropped their mandates. 

The Peace River South MLA says exclusions of these healthcare professionals undermine the healthcare capacity and erode public trust.