“they don’t, quite frankly, have the time to do this and we want to make sure that we reduce these barriers to them and get them vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
the idea was suggested by ndp leader rachel notley in the legislature tuesday and premier jason kenney said he was open to it.
copping said it was something the government had been watching for weeks. similar measures were passed by the saskatchewan government last month. british columbia tabled its version of the legislation on monday.
on wednesday, notley
reiterated her caucus’s commitment
to doing its part to pass the legislation quickly.
“these three hours of leave will benefit hundreds of thousands of working albertans because no one wants to log in to book their vaccine just to see that the only spots left are during their work hours, when they can’t otherwise afford to leave,” she said.
the ndp had asked for the bill to also include a provision that would also allow workers paid time off if they need to help family members get vaccinated, similar to b.c.
instead, the government chose to model its legislation after saskatchewan which only focuses on time off for workers to get vaccinated.
in a statement, janet riopel, president & ceo of the edmonton chamber of commerce said the new law will mean more costs for employers at a time when they are already struggling.