Opposition lawmakers Monday morning called for government to withdraw proposed vaccination law changes just hours before Cayman’s parliamentarians were set to debate a pair of bills that would require vaccinations for many of Cayman’s residents and visitors.
The Customs and Border Control Amendment Bill and the Immigration Transition Amendment Bill would mandate vaccinations for work-permit holders and their families, as well as any person without Caymanian status living in the country. It would also require all travellers to be vaccinated.
“Aspects of the Bills appear to be discriminatory; indeed, they are also divisive and will, in the end, provide no absolute meaningful protection from the virus since the vaccinated can also contract it and pass it on,” wrote Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart, in a two-page letter to Premier Wayne Panton.
The bills are scheduled to be piloted and debated in Parliament Monday, but Opposition members say more public consultation time is needed.
Over the weekend, demonstrators protested outside Government House expressing their dissatisfaction with the proposed changes and another protest is planned for Monday outside Parliament.
The Opposition argued that if the legislation was to pass in its current form, it is likely to be declared incompatible with the Constitution “when, inevitably, it is challenged in the courts”.
“What’s more, mandating vaccinations will have no appreciable impact on the trajectory of the current community spread of the virus. The Country would be well served by these Bills being withdrawn when Parliament convenes on Monday,” the Opposition Leader contended in his letter.
McTaggart said the Opposition has “serious concerns” with the proposed bills.
“Bills this far-reaching deserve proper public consultation – these Bills have received scant if any public consultation, and indeed the ten days is insufficient time. Aspects of the Bills impinge on the rights and freedoms of spouses, civil partners, children and dependents of Caymanians,” he said in his two-page letter outlining the Opposition’s concerns.
The Compass reached out to Premier Wayne Panton for comment, and is awaiting a response.
‘Changes will have negative impact’
The Bills were gazetted on 23 Sept. and Panton, according to a statement issued following the publication, used his powers under section 77 of the Cayman Islands Constitution (Amendment) Order 2021 to reduce the public consultation period from 28 to 10 days “as the amendments are part of urgent measures being put in place by the Government to protect the community from the COVID-19 virus and aid in the country’s economic recovery from the global pandemic”.
However, McTaggart challenged this, saying in the case of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, “being
vaccinated is no indication that one does not suffer from the communicable disease. Only a
suitable test for the presence of the virus before arriving and again after an appropriate
quarantine period provides sufficient satisfaction that the person is not infected with the virus and able to transmit it.”
He pointed out that the present law requires non-nationals who wish to apply to work and reside here to prove that they are not suffering from a communicable disease that would make “the persons entry into the Islands dangerous to the community”.
The bills, he argued, “negatively, and we believe unfairly, impact a broad cross-section of persons who we have invited here to work, invest, do business and live. Passage of these Bills will have a negative impact economically and reputationally on our Islands.”
The Opposition, he said, agrees with the position highlighted in a letter from law firm KSG that the government’s proposed vaccination mandates threaten rights protected under the constitution: including section 2 (right to life); section 3 (prohibition of inhumane treatment); section 9 (right to private life); section 10 (right to freedom of conscience and religion); and section 16 (freedom from discrimination).
“In summary, the extent of the Bills, especially the application to non-nationals only, appears to be unprecedented anywhere and breach a number of the fundamental rights protected by both the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, set out in the Cayman Islands constitution, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights by which the Cayman Islands is also bound. They have the potential to harm our Islands economically and reputationally and are divisive,” he wrote.
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This argument around medical freedom is completely specious and disingenuous, as it assumes a situation where the government feels an obligation to protect the vulnerable population through shutting Cayman away from the world with the attendant economic damage being borne by the tourism sector now, and the taxpayers in general later.
Decouple all of this, and the freedom argument is a little more persuasive. Open the borders, people have made their decision and are willing to take the risk. The government fears that they will lose popularity in the event of an outbreak – this is at the heart a problem with the undemocratic system of voting, where a small fraction of Cayman residents get to vote and set policy for large non-voting groups and their priorities differ in the short term. In the longer run, the cost of economic ruin is borne by everyone, as revenues crater and Cayman has no more money but the voters tend not to think in the long run.
All of this is just kicking the can down the road, once COVID is loose and anti-vaxers start getting sick then we will see how important their precious “freedom” is. The best time to start that process is now. Panton and company should stiffen their spines and do what is right for the country, and not what is right for their re-election.