BRFN band office. (bigriverfirstnation.ca)

By Teena Monteleone

Mandated vaccines

Big River First Nation to mandate vaccinations for band employees

Aug 27, 2021 | 5:10 PM

Leaders on Big River First Nation (BRFN) say surging COVID-19 numbers in their community has left them with no choice but to mandate vaccinations for all band employees. However, some residents are not happy about it and are set to protest.

In explaining the decision BRFN CEO Derek Klein told paNOW only 20 per cent of the 3,000 residents on the reserve are fully vaccinated and only 11 per cent of youth between 12 and 18 have received their doses.

“The numbers are staggering. Some of our teachers aren’t even vaccinated. If we don’t do something, it will fall on the leadership and they’ll say we didn’t do anything, so we have to make it mandatory. Public safety takes precedent over everything else,” Klein said.

The First Nation, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert, was the site of one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks last year and was forced into lockdown after about 100 members became ill, yet Klein said they still have one of the lowest vaccination rates among First Nations in Saskatchewan.

“It’s troublesome where our neighbours are 4 to 7 times above us in vaccinations, yet we’re a bigger community than them.”

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Since the community has struggled to get hold of the virus, Klein said students – 800 on the reserve – are among those suffering the most.

“They’ve only had 50 to 60 days of school in the last year and a half. We tried virtual learning but the internet service is bad out here. It’s dangerous to bring frontline workers in communities when they’re not vaccinated,” Klein said.

While the pandemic has hit the health and education of the First Nation, it’s also hit their finances. Klein said they’ve spent more than $6 million paying people who haven’t worked because they had COVID or were a contact and had to isolate over and over again.

“We had 10 cases confirmed since nine this morning (Friday). It’s going to take over the community and we don’t have the funds to continue looking after people and paying people when they’re not working,” Klein said. “If you want to be a public servant for the community, you need to be vaccinated to protect yourself and the community members as well.”

Klein said all 300 band employees must show proof of their full vaccinations by the end of September, or risk being terminated.

Employment lawyer weighs in

There has been some backlash from community residents over the mandatory vaccination announcement for all band employees. paNOW has learned a protest in front of the band office is planned for Monday.

Steve Seiferling is the managing lawyer of a labour employment and human rights law firm in Saskatoon.

He said employers are required under the Saskatchewan Employment Act and Occupational Health and Safety regulations to maintain a safe work environment, but there are three factors that can be considered in court when vaccines are being mandated in the workplace.

“The first is whether the vaccine is legitimately tied to the workplace. With the global pandemic right now, as long as it’s a public facing workplace, you’re probably going to have a legitimate tie to the workplace requiring people to get the vaccine,” Seiferling said.

The second area to consider falls under human rights concerns for those who are medically unable to get the vaccine.

“Or if you have a religious reason not to get the vaccine, you have a potential complaint under human rights if your employer is forcing you to get the vaccine.”

The third area is privacy law: whether or not an employer can require you to disclose your vaccination status based on employment requirements. The complication in Saskatchewan, he said, is that we don’t have private sector legislation.

“Now, you can rely on the federal public sector legislation and the bands would likely be governed under federal legislation,” Seiferling said. “So, the privacy issue might be a live issue for an Indigenous band.”

No court decisions have been made in Canada yet on mandatory vaccinations but Seiferling expects, even when there are decisions, there won’t be a definitive answer for all workplaces since each complaint will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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Teena.Monteleone@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MonteleoneTeena