Councillor's 'hysteria' comment about COVID-19 vaccine policy draws swift rebuke

London, Ont. -

A proposal to create a COVID-19 vaccination policy for members of city council sparked some of the strongest language yet from Ward 1 Councillor Michael Van Holst.

Regarding the response to the pandemic, Van Holst told his colleagues on the Corporate Services Committee, “I see there’s a patine of hysteria about it, and maybe a patine of fanaticism about it, so those two little things make it dangerous, we can go too far.”

Councillor Maureen Cassidy, who chairs the Board of Health, was quick to challenge Van Holst’s choice of words.

“I’m really concerned when I hear words like hysteria used in describing how we have responded to the COVID-19 epidemic,” she responded.

Van Holst then defended his earlier comment, “a ‘patine’ of fanaticism is a small thing, but it does capture the minds of people out there.”

The debate began with a motion by Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan to create a COVID-19 vaccination policy for council that would be in line with new rules for municipal staff.

Starting Oct. 1, municipal employees, contractors, consultants, interns and volunteers have three choices:

• be double vaccinated for COVID-19

• provide proof of a medical or human rights exemption and undergo routine COVID testing

• the remaining unvaccinated can take an educational course on COVID-19 vaccination and undergo routine testing.

A letter written by Councillor Van Holst questioning vaccine mandates was already on the committee agenda, titled ‘COVID Perception, Reality, and Legality.’

It called on council to make public, the legal advice provided by the city solicitor about vaccine policies.

His letter states, “The goal of this communication is to argue that the need for vaccines has been exaggerated and does not warrant the imposition of extreme measures that could place our corporation (City of London) in jeopardy of infringing unlawfully on protected rights.”

The committee rejected the request contained in the letter.

Van Holst also warned the vaccination policy risked singling out one member of Council.

Deputy Mayor Morgan replied that the current vaccination status of council members has not been verified, and if boosters are eventually required, all municipal politicians would be subject to the policy.

The recommendation to have civic administration draft a Council COVID-19 Vaccination Policy was supported 3-1, Van Holst opposed.

City Manager Lynne Livingstone told the committee that the employee policy was developed in consultation with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the city’s unions, and the legal department.

“We want to emphasize that our approach is to ensure we have consistency across the organization, and this is the model Dearness (Home) is working under, which was established by provincial directive,” she explained.

Regular COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated municipal staff is expected to cost between $2,000 and $3,000 each week.