What led to Horwath's about-face on vaccines

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Good Friday morning. This is Queen’s Park Observer.

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SCOOP — There was a mini caucus revolt leading up to ANDREA HORWATH’s about-face over vaccine mandates. The Official Opposition Leader now says she’s on board with mandatory vaccinations for frontline health and education workers — less than 24 hours after she said that would violate the Charter, causing a rift in the NDP camp and a field day for their Liberal rivals.

“I should have made that position clearer, much earlier,” Horwath said in a video statement. “I made a mistake suggesting a mandatory vaccine policy during a global pandemic should take a back seat to Charter rights. I regret the comment. I was wrong.”

So, what led to the reversal? I spoke with four senior NDP sources, including MPPs, and granted them anonymity to get a sense of what happened behind the scenes.

After I reported rumblings of dissent within the ranks over Horwath’s comments on CBC’s Power & Politics that took aim at Liberal Leader STEVEN DEL DUCA