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MONTREAL -- While Quebec's rules requiring many people to work from home could be coming to an end in a matter of months, one lawyer believes employers should think twice before having them come back to the office. The re-opening plan presented by Premier Francois Legault calls for the resumption of face-to-face work conditions towards the end of August, assuming vaccine coverage continues to increase and the epidemiological situation continues to improve. However, if all goes according to plan, the majority of Quebec's regions will be reclassified as yellow zones on June 14, which would make teleworking optional for administrative and clerical tasks.
Q: Could the government make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory? A: Yes. It has this power, in exceptional cases, such as that of a pandemic, which seriously threatens the health of the population, said lawyer Dominique Boutin of Éducaloi. If a state of health emergency is declared (this is already the case in Quebec), Quebec Public Health Act gives broad powers to the government, including the power to impose vaccination on the entire population, or on part of the population, when threatened by a contagious disease. "But currently, this is not the approach of the government," said Boutin. However, even if a compulsory vaccination is decreed by the government, it remains possible for a citizen to challenge this measure in court.
Article content “But this is not the approach currently valued by the government,” Boutin said. And even in a situation of mandatory vaccination decreed by the government, Quebecers could still challenge the measure in court. Q: If mandatory vaccination is imposed and I still refuse the vaccine, are there consequences? A: Sanctions are possible, such as fines. A court can also order someone to be vaccinated if they refuse to do so. And if a judge has serious reasons to believe the person will not comply with such an order, the judge can order them to be taken directly to a specific location to be vaccinated, Boutin said.