If the Ontario government mandates vaccine passports, they would not just be betraying our fundamental freedoms—they would be betraying their own words about systemic racism.

During the George Floyd protests last year, Canadian politicians said they believe black lives matter.

Since then, however—Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government have introduced vaccine passports for federal workers that marginalize black lives.

And now Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, is considering vaccine passports for Ontario. If Doug Ford mandates vaccine passports, he would also be marginalizing and segregating black people.

Do black lives still matter? Justin Trudeau has already affirmed that everything he said about systemic racism last year was a lie.

Doug Ford, however, has an opportunity to answer that question differently. Is everything he said about systemic racism last year a lie? Does he really oppose policies that create racial disparities? Is he really an ally to marginalized groups in Ontario? Do black lives still matter to Doug Ford?

A survey from earlier this summer reveals that black Canadians are the most unwilling group in Canada to get the vaccine. Particularly, black Ontarians make up nearly 60% of the black Canadians sampled in the survey.

The report from the survey says:

“At the time of this survey, a 20-point gap existed among those who received at least one vaccine between White Canadians (65%) and Black Canadians (45%).”

Some of the unvaccinated black Canadians include me, many of my relatives, and many of my friends. We are not “anti-vaxxers”, we’re just informed and responsible Ontarians practising our freedom of conscience. Many of us are immigrants who moved to this great nation because Canada promised to protect our fundamental freedoms.

Today, however, we’re being coerced and pressured into acting against our conscience. Many of us, including me—have decided we will not get the vaccine, at all costs. So many black people are prepared to be segregated and marginalized—again.

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