Vaccination bill defeated in N.B. vote

New Brunswick legislators have voted down a controversial bill that would have made vaccinations mandatory for children in the province’s schools and daycares.

The minority Progressive Conservative government’s Act Respecting Proof of Immunization was defeated Thursday in a vote of 22 to 20, with four abstentions.

Bill 11 would have required children in public schools and licensed daycare facilities to provide proof of immunization unless they had an exemption signed by a medical professional. Non-medical exemptions are currently accepted.

Education Minister Dominic Cardy said he was “deeply disappointed” by the results of the free vote that saw some members of his own party vote against the bill and some Liberal opposition members support it.

Cardy had harsh words for colleagues who abstained or voted nay, saying these members had given in to pressure from anti-vaccination lobbyists pushing “medieval conspiracy theories.”

He said members had a choice to stand up to misinformation or to vote with science to protect their constituents’ best interests, and he said many didn’t stand up against “bullying, harassment and threats.”

Green party Leader David Coon, whose caucus of three abstained from voting, said in a statement that the decision to suspend parental exemptions should come from the chief medical officer of health and not be made for political reasons.

He said very few parents currently use the non-medical exemption and there is not sufficient public health rationale to deny “the handful of children” who are not vaccinated access to education.

Cardy rejected this argument, saying the legislation was intended as a protective measure before anti-vaccination messages gain more popularity and vaccination rates fall to risky levels.