{"id":11050,"date":"2026-03-06T13:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11050"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:15:30","slug":"victory-for-freedom-of-belief-air-canada-ordered-to-compensate-pilots-fired-for-refusing-covid-jab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11050","title":{"rendered":"VICTORY FOR FREEDOM OF BELIEF: Air Canada ordered to compensate pilots fired for refusing Covid jab"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\ufeff<\/td>: Air Canada ordered to compensate pilots fired for refusing Covid jab<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>: Air Canada ordered to compensate pilots fired for refusing Covid jab<\/a>
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Seven Air Canada pilots who refused complying with controversial Covid-19 vaccine mandates on religious grounds will soon be compensated by the airline
Seven Air Canada pilots who refused complying with controversial Covid-19 vaccine mandates on religious grounds will soon be compensated by the airline after an arbitrator ruled that their rights had been violated.In his ruling<\/a>, Arbitrator James Hayes stated, \u201cAll of the grievors testified honestly and the substantive nexus between their religious beliefs and objections to the employer mandatory vaccination policy was manifest.\u201d

Additionally, Hayes noted that the Air Canada union \u201chas made out a prima facie case of workplace religious discrimination pursuant to the Collective Agreement and the Canadian Human Rights Act.<\/em>\u201dAir Canada was ordered to compensate the pilots, most of whom were captains, within 60 days for denying their religious exemptions. The arbitration decision stated that the arbitrator would \u201cremain seized in the unlikely event that calculation of those damages becomes an issue.\u201dThe pilots were part of a group called Free to Fly<\/a>, which advocates for workers affected by refusing to adhere to government COVID-19 vaccination mandates

.\u201cI am thrilled these seven men (Colin Finlay, David Sibley, Aric Verduyn, Darren Tucker, Matthew Griffin, Christopher Olson, and Kale Haley) were able to bring glory to God throughout this arduous process,\u201d wrote Free to Fly co-founder Greg Hill in a statement on Thursday. \u201cThey gave powerful, Biblical reasons for the hope that is within them – the only true source of hope and light for our dark world!\u201dHayes ruled that the seven pilots should have been \u201cplaced on initial paid leaves of absence, as had been their pilot colleagues granted exemptions at the outset\u201d instead of being fired.The COVID-19 vaccine mandate, implemented in October 2021 under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, placed an unprecedented and sweeping burden on federal workers and those in the transportation sector.

Those who chose to abstain were prohibited from travelling by air, boat, or train, both domestically and internationally, resulting in thousands of Canadians losing their livelihoods for failing to comply.\u201cGod speaks to us in many ways through a well-formed moral conscience and often we can be to distracted to listen. But in this case, I heard Him clearly in my heart and soul: that to take the vaccine would be to go against His will for me,\u201d said Air Canada Captain Colin Finlay.Finlay, who is Catholic, said his faith prevented him from getting the shot because of its connection to aborted fetal cells.\u201cFor me, this was not a matter of personal preference or politics.

It was a matter of obedience to God and fidelity to my Catholic faith,\u201d he added.Air Canada Captain Christopher Olson also objected to the vaccine because fetal cell lines from aborted babies were used in the making of the mRNA shots.\u201cMy faith is with me at all times and informs all of my decisions, including decisions about what I allow into my body. Therefore, as companies around Canada began discussing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies, I immediately recognized the potential conflict with my faith,\u201d wrote Olson.According to Hayes, the rationale for seeking religious exemptions by Olson, Finlay and the five other pilots was \u201csincere.\u201d\u201cI find without hesitation that Captain Olson\u2019s objection to vaccination was grounded in sincere religious conviction,\u201d reads the ruling.

The ruling follows a similar decision last year that saw Canada\u2019s second-largest airline, WestJet, ordered<\/a> to compensate an employee \u201cwrongfully terminated\u201d for refusing to be vaccinated.Calgary Justice Aldo Argento ordered the airline to pay Duong Yee $65,587.72\u2014the equivalent of 11 months\u2019 salary\u2014after her termination on Dec. 1, 2021, when she declined to be vaccinated.\u201cThe plaintiff\u2019s refusal to comply with the company\u2019s vaccination policy did not impact her job performance,\u201d Argento wrote in his decision<\/a>. \u201cIt did not endanger the defendant\u2019s employees or the public as the plaintiff was working from home. While a future, partial return to work was anticipated, that was not yet implemented.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody>
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\ufeff : Air Canada ordered to compensate pilots fired for refusing Covid jab : Air Canada ordered to compensate pilots fired for refusing Covid jabSeven Air Canada pilots who refused complying with controversial Covid-19 vaccine mandates on religious grounds will … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6246,3833,6248,6250,2136,6247,6245,6251,6249],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11051,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions\/11051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}