(LifeSiteNews) — Recently disclosed meeting notes reveal that top military leaders hesitated to drop the Canadian Armed Forces’ COVID jab mandate alongside the Trudeau government because they were worried it would impact the “credibility” of the institution.
According to information obtained by the Epoch Times, when the federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an end to its federal workplace COVID vaccine mandate effective June 2022, Canadian Armed Force’s Strategic Operations Planning Group (SOPG) showed concern about public optics should they drop their mandate as well. This came despite the fact many Canadians were opposed to the jab mandates, as could be seen from the Freedom Convoy protest held earlier that year.
Minutes from a June 15, 2022 SOPG meeting read, “If we rescind the CDS Directive, the credibility of the institution is weakened, particularly the relationship between the strategic and tactical levels.”
The CDS “Directive” was a military mandate that all staff have the COVID jab, which was issued by General Wayne Eyre in late 2021.
The comments in the minutes were made by the CAF’s Director Military Careers Administration (DMCA), with the email of the minutes having been sent by Colonel Krystle Connerty, who is a director with the Strategic Joint Staff.
The email notes that the military COVID jab mandate was being defended by military “front line” staff, also stating that the CAF had been getting “complaints and insults, including being accused of ‘war crimes.’”
On June 14, 2022, which was the day before the CAF meeting, the Trudeau government announced that its federal COVID jab workplace mandate would be dropped, as would the mandate requiring domestic travelers have the COVID shot to board planes and trains.
As the CAF had its own mandate it place, it was not impacted by the federal mandate.
Last November, a CAF member who spoke to LifeSiteNews under the condition of anonymity, observed that the military considers members who refuse the COVID shot “a piece of garbage overnight because you refuse it (COVID vaccine).”
In March, LifeSiteNews reported on how large personnel losses have caused the CAF to consider dropping its remaining COVID jab requirements altogether.
Military considered dropping mandates but kept them in place longer
Per the Epoch Times report, the SOPG meeting minutes showed that the DMCA had proposed to either keep the COVID jab mandate in place, suspend it with the option to allow it to come back later, or rescind it altogether.
According to the meeting minutes, the SOPG noted it should not “rush to failure,” claiming that there were “many 2nd and 3rd order effects that must be considered.”
The CAF eventually lifted its COVID jab mandate in October of 2022, which was months after the federal mandate was lifted. Despite the mandate no longer being in force, members are still “strongly encouraged” to take the experimental shot.
Of note is the COVID jab mandate is still in place for those with operational roles. It is also mandated for members “placed on less than 45 days-notice-to-move with a potential to be deployed at a location with limited/no access to medical care, or locations or nations where vaccination is a prerequisite for entry/operations.”
The decision to keep the mandate for months longer occurred even though the overall CAF COVID jab rate stood at 90 percent.
Also included in the communications was a CAF’s Directorate of Force Health Protection (DFHP) assessment of what would happen should the mandate be removed, concluding that the risk of a poor outcome was “quite low.”
Under the CAF’s mandate, hundreds of military members were fired, or one could argue, purged, for not getting the COVID shots. This is in addition to the thousands of public servants fired for not getting the COVID shots.
In April 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire after claiming he did not “force” anyone to take the COVID-19 shots, despite his federal government mandating the novel injections as a condition of employment in all public sector jobs under its jurisdiction, leading to at least 2,560 federal employees being suspended for not taking the shots.
His government also barred those who did not take the shots from plane, train, and sea travel.
COVID vaccine mandates, which came from provincial governments with the support of Trudeau’s federal government, split Canadian society. The mRNA shots themselves have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children.
The jabs also have connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies. As a result of this, many Catholics and other Christians refused to take them.