“This is one big critical trial.” A sit down with MPP Nina Tangri

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“If it’s not for you, it’s your choice.”

It was refreshing to hear these words coming from a Member of Parliament. Last week I had the opportunity to sit down and dialogue with MPP Nina Tangri.

She has served as Vice-Chair on the Board of Directors at the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga and was a Cabinet Member of ErinOak Kids, Ontario’s largest treatment center for children living with disabilities. She has received numerous accolades for her tireless volunteer work and support of organizations and clubs across the GTA, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award. Till this day, MPP Tangri stays connected to the community, involving herself with numerous food banks in the Peel Region.

Until her election to Ontario’s 42nd Parliament, she was the CEO of Tangri Insurance & Financial Group, and President of Tangri-BMT Insurance Brokers.

In June 2019, Nina was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade. Previously, Nina also served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy, mandated with studying and reviewing policy related to healthcare, education, and social services.

During our discussion, MPP Tangri was very candid about her stance on the vaccine. “I think that it is important that everyone gets the vaccine,” MPP Tangri stated, “If it’s not for you, it’s your choice. This is one big critical trial. The vaccines have been tested and approved, but I do understand that there is some hesitancy in some communities when it comes to the vaccine.

Even my community Simone, there are those who are completely against the idea of the vaccine. There is a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet, so it is important that we get accurate information about the vaccine, so that people know that it is safe. We want people to ensure they make informed decisions.”

MPP Tangri shared with me information that she was privy to.

“There have been some discussions about airlines wanting you to have the vaccine to fly, but we are not in a position yet to discuss vaccine passports. I have spoken to some business owners who are navigating the way things could turn out. People may not be comfortable being in the same space as someone who has not been vaccinated. Does this mean that vaccinated individuals would have privileges that unvaccinated people do not?

I am frightened about this. I don’t want to see this two-tiered system. This is a time for people to ban together.”

I listened quietly as MPP Tangri continued to share her thoughts about the benefits of the vaccine. I waited for her to finish, and then I asked her about some of Canada’s history.

We don’t say vaccines are good or bad, many think that the evidence is not conclusive? What do we say to people who have knowledge of how the government has not done their due diligence in ensuring that something being propagated, was best for the people of Canada

I brought up DDT as a case example. It was revered as a miracle solution for the increasingly prevalent spruce budworm infestation in Ontario’s balsam forests.

After mental and human health concerns arose in 1972 due to the continuing accumulation of the water-insoluble DDT in the environment, international action was taken to control its spread. The registered use of DDT was suspended in Canada in 1985 and the use of existing stocks was only permitted until the end of 1990, after which time it was banned under the Pest Control Products Act.

Today, it is prohibited under the Canada–Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem and was banned worldwide for agricultural uses at the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

We can’t forget asbestos. Canada first began 3 and so began the economic boom that came along with it.

Unfortunately, the Canadian government ignored the threat of these horribly fatal diseases in its citizens and workers, and even refused to add chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention’s hazardous substances list. This has only recently been changed, and Canada’s government has finally admitted the real dangers for those exposed to asbestos, which experts have been parading in front of them for decades.

MPP Tangri sat there and she listened to me. She did not respond to my historical breakdown of other times that the government has been terribly wrong about something that they had propagated as being good for the country. What she did do is listen to me, and honour the fact that someone was not just trying to be resistant. Although her push was for the community to get the vaccine, she also took the time to listen to why many Canadians are resistant.

I plan to speak with her again, and I am curious as to what more she will have to share with me.