Any Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) staff, contractors or volunteers who have not yet provided proof they’ve received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are officially off the job.
Municipal personnel had until Tuesday, March 1 at 4 p.m. to submit their documents. Those who hadn’t presented proof of vaccine by that deadline are officially on unpaid leave until further notice. As of Tuesday, the RMOW confirmed 18 employees—six permanent and 12 casual—have been placed on unpaid leave, although a spokesperson said vaccine proof was still trickling in after Pique’s press deadline Wednesday. The requirement applies to all of the RMOW’s 619 employees, in addition to its roster of contractors and volunteers.
As Pique previously reported, council approved the policy during a closed meeting nearly three months ago, on Dec. 7.
While Whistler’s mayor and council received a pair of letters from residents opposed to the vaccine requirement during its last meeting on Feb. 22, an RMOW spokesperson said the municipality is not currently considering lifting the mandate.
One of those letters was from retired Cpl. Richard Poilly, who identified himself as a firefighter with the Whistler Fire Rescue Service who previously served as an infantry soldier in Afghanistan.
“I served our country for the freedom and rights of others to have choices and to have a brighter future for all. I have seen the devastation and destruction that comes when freedoms are taken away, and do not take that lightly,” he wrote, adding that he has “seen the very real effects this virus has had on friends, loved ones, partners, co-workers and patients.
“I have seen the effects on both physical and mental health, and have seen the divide we have all come to. I have seen the devastation from both the virus and the vaccine, and have watched the mental health decline come from of all of it. I have held the hands of those suffering vaccine injuries (in their own words) and hugged the people suffering from the mental decline. This virus has touched many friends and coworkers, regardless of their vaccine status. It has become clear that this virus spares no one. Where there is risk, there must be choice.”
Poilly acknowledged that he would be placed on unpaid leave “and forced to give up a job” he is proud of should he not declare his vaccine status prior to the municipality’s March 1 deadline.
“I am saddened that it has come to this,” he wrote.
The municipal policy aligns with those of the federal and B.C. governments, which both announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates for public sector workers last fall. Whistler’s decision also follows the lead of other B.C. municipalities, including Vancouver, Surrey and the Capital Regional District.
“Throughout the pandemic, the RMOW has been diligent in following the advice of public health experts and taking all available steps to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in our workplace and in our community,” said Mayor Jack Crompton in a release announcing the municipality’s vaccine mandate last year.
“British Columbia’s PHO says being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is the most effective measure to safeguard employee health and reduce the risk of transmission within the workplace.”
B.C.’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner issued a policy guidance document about vaccine mandates last July (and updated it October), stating that its position on the provincial vaccine card program is that it “is justified from a human rights perspective and will result in increased protection for those among us who are most vulnerable to the virus.”
- With files from Braden Dupuis.
