Gatineau residents react to Quebec's threat of a tax on the unvaxxed

Gatineau residents are reacting to Quebec’s controversial plan to tax the unvaccinated.

Lance Peckham says he supports the new tax on Quebecers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

"I think it is a great idea. We pay taxes on booze and cigarettes – why not?"

Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced Tuesday there would be a new measure for people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for non-medical reasons. It is not clear exactly how much the penalty will be, but the Legault says it will be "significant."

Virginia Messier lives in Gatineau and says she was surprised to hear the announcement, "I thought they would go another way."

However, she says she thinks this will push people to get their shots.

"Mainly for the health care system, it is drained, everyone is drained. It is too much for them right now."

On Wednesday, the province recorded 457 more people entering care with COVID-19, bringing the total to 2,877 people in hospital with the virus. 

Francois Sauvé says the tax could help alleviate pressure on the system.

"If everybody gets vaccinated it will be easier for everybody," said Sauvé, but questions if the tax will become a reality.

"I know there is opposition so we will have to see."

Luc St-Laurent says he has questions over how much the tax will be and how it will roll out.

"I don’t know, it is complicated ... but if it helps brings more and people to get the shot than that’s what we need."

Not everyone in the province likes the idea. Marie Desjardins opposes the tax and says it won’t be effective in getting more people vaccinated.

"It is ridiculous," she says. "We have tax on everything in Quebec, and now they want to tax a person that is not vaccinated?  I mean really!"

Ottawa’s medical officer of health says she opposes the idea.

"I do think it's important to recognize the value of access to health care being a right, and something we do prioritize in Canada. So, to me it would be problematic to create barriers to health care for people," said Dr. Vera Etches on Wednesday.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore says Ontario has no plans to tax residents who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

"It does, in my mind, seem punitive," Dr. Moore said. "Only in the highest-risk settings have we mandated it, and that was in the long-term care facilities where all of us have realized the increased death rate, the increased risk of severe outcomes (of COVID-19) had to be balanced by maximizing immunization and protection of those individuals."

The Quebec government is currently consulting with the finance minister and its legal advisers about implementing the measure.