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In Canada, a Father Temporarily Lost the Right to See His Child Over Vaccine Status

Earlier this week, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the province would be cracking down on the unvaccinated even more—this time going so far as to impose a tax on those who refuse to get the jab for a non-medical reason. 

"The 10 percent of the population can't burden the 90 percent," he argued. "I think it's reasonable a majority of the population is asking that there be consequences." 

But punishment against the unvaccinated in the province is coming in other ways, too. 

A Canadian father who has not gotten the jab temporarily lost the right to see his child because a judge said it would not be in the "best interest" of the 12-year-old. The decision came after he requested an extended visit over the holidays. 

The judgement is the first depriving a parent of access rights on immunisation grounds, a family law expert told Le Devoir newspaper.

The judge's decision, made at the end of last month in Quebec province, suspends the father's visitation rights until February, unless he decides to get vaccinated.

The mother, who opposed the father's initial request to extend his visitation time, told the court she had recently discovered he was unvaccinated, using his social media posts to show he was opposed to vaccines.

The mother lives with her partner and two other children who are too young to be vaccinated.

The judge said it was not "in the child's best interest to have contact with their father" due to the recent increase in Covid cases in French-speaking Quebec. (BBC)

A similar situation already took place in Michigan last year, though the judge eventually reversed his decision