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       Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole takes photos with supporters after speaking at an election campaign rally in Richmond Hill, Ont., Aug. 17, 2021.

       STRINGER/Reuters

       Federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says candidates who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 will have to take daily rapid tests, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford is threatening two of his caucus members with expulsion for not getting their shots.

       The split between the two leading conservative figures comes on the third day of the federal election campaign, where mandatory vaccinations have becoming a dividing issue among the party leaders.

       Late Tuesday, Mr. Ford’s office confirmed that two MPPs in his 71-member caucus have not yet been vaccinated. Chief Government Whip Lorne Coe has given the two members until Thursday at 5 p.m. to get a shot, or provide a legitimate medical exemption – otherwise they will be removed from caucus. The Globe and Mail has reached out to the two MPPs for comment. One has not responded and the other declined to comment.

       “Due to the nature of their work, which involves daily interaction with members of the public, including the most vulnerable, it is our expectation that every single PC caucus member and candidate be vaccinated,” said Ivana Yelich, Mr. Ford’s executive director of media relations.

       The directive was made on the same day Ontario announced that it will require employers in schools and high-risk health care settings to have vaccination policies in place by Sept. 7. Unvaccinated workers will have to provide a medical exemption or undergo an educational session on the importance of vaccines and free antigen testing once a week.

       Mr. O’Toole was asked Wednesday about the Ford government’s new mandatory vaccination policy for its caucus, and whether he would be adopting a similar requirement.

       “Vaccines are a very important tool for combatting COVID-19,” he replied in French. “I encourage all Quebecers and all Canadians to get vaccinated, including my candidates and MPs. I expect my team to have a solid approach on all health measures across the country, including vaccines. But I will respect personal health decisions. But we need to use daily rapid testing if we have a candidate who is not vaccinated. I will repeat: Vaccines are very important. That’s why I’ve fought for adequate supply over the past year.”

       In a COVID-19 campaigning directive sent to Conservative candidates on Tuesday, the party urged all Canadians to get vaccinated and said candidates should get daily rapid tests if they are unvaccinated. “Our expectation is that anyone campaigning for our party who isn’t vaccinated will pass a daily rapid test,” it said, adding that the party will follow all local public-health measures.

       The issue of mandatory vaccinations has been front and centre during the first week of the campaign. The Liberals last week announced that vaccines would be mandatory for all federal public servants and in federally regulated industries, as well as passengers on air, train, bus and cruise ships. However, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has been unable to provide key details of the plan, including what happens in the case of refusal, saying only on Tuesday there would be “consequences” for public servants. That statement, along with comments made by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh threatening discipline or even termination if a federal employee refused a shot, has drawn criticism from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the country’s largest federal public service union.

       The Conservatives have also asked the interim clerk of the Privy Council Office, Janice Charette, to launch an investigation into the removal on Monday of an online government memo that seemed to contradict the Liberals’ promise on mandatory vaccinations. In the memo to deputy ministers posted on Friday, Christine Donoghue, the Chief Human Resources Officer of Canada, said the government would consider alternatives for people who refuse vaccination, “such as testing and screening.”

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       Mr. Trudeau told reporters the memo was taken down because it was erroneous and did not reflect government policy, adding it was removed by the public service. He did not answer when asked directly whether his team had any role in that decision.

       The Liberal leader has been critical of Mr. O’Toole’s stance on mandatory vaccinations. The Conservatives say that public servants who refuse shots will have to take daily rapid tests, while unvaccinated travellers would have to take rapid tests or present a recent negative PCR test. Mr. Trudeau has said that doesn’t go far enough, and vowed his policy would be stricter.

       During a campaign stop in Quebec City on Wednesday, Mr. O’Toole touted his party’s ethics-reform commitments, packaged in an “Anti-Corruption Act,” which the party said it would pass.

       The proposal is focused on ethics, lobbying and transparency.

       “Canada needs tougher laws to require ethics in government,” Mr. O’Toole said.

       Under its proposal, there would be an expansion of monetary penalties in the current Conflict of Interest Act to cover all violations of the act. It would move to prevent MPs from collecting speaking fees while serving in Parliament because, says the party platform document, “Speaking to Canadians is part of the job.”

       There would also be reforms to lobbying. It includes a proposed ban on lobbying by an individual or entity on a matter that is the subject of a criminal proceeding, among other areas.

       Another piece calls for increasing monetary penalties under the existing Conflict of Interest Act from a maximum $500 to $50,000, with the fine proportionate to the severity of the offence, the offender’s history and personal net worth.

       Mr. O’Toole defended targeting an offender’s net worth. “For some people, a $500 fine will not drive better behaviour,” he said.

       During the campaign, Mr. O’Toole has framed the need to deal with the overall issue of ethics as a response to challenges facing Mr. Trudeau, who has twice been found in breach of conflict of interest laws – in 2017 and 2019.

       Most recently, in May, the federal Ethics Commissioner, Mario Dion, found Mr. Trudeau did not breach the Conflict of Interest Act in the WE Charity controversy, but that former finance minister Bill Morneau did.

       With a report from Bill Curry in Ottawa