OTTAWA -- A Conservative government would have unvaccinated federal employees and air passengers pass COVID-19 tests instead of mandating they get inoculated, leader Erin O'Toole said late Sunday, breaking his silence on the issue.

The written statement capped off the first day of a hotly anticipated federal election campaign that began with the Liberals attacking O'Toole's lack of a position on vaccine mandates, saying he also lacks a plan to end the pandemic.

Earlier in the day, O'Toole sidestepped questions about whether he supported a move by the Liberal government to require federal civil servants, workers in federally regulated industries and most travellers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

O'Toole later said the Liberals were trying to use mandatory vaccinations to drive a wedge in the country by making the shots political.

"Canadians want a reasonable and balanced approach that protects their right to make personal health decisions and the need to keep everyone safe," his statement read.

"What they do not want is the politicization of the pandemic. Vaccines are not a political issue."

Instead of mandatory vaccinations, O'Toole said a Conservative government would make unvaccinated people boarding a plane, ship or interprovincial train provide a negative COVID-19 test.

It would also have unvaccinated federal employees pass a rapid test each day.

O'Toole has yet to address whether he will make his own candidates get vaccinated against COVID-19 as they gear up to knock on doors and hold campaign events, or if he'd expect them to take rapid tests daily.

At the same time, O'Toole kicked off his campaign Sunday by saying Trudeau is putting Canadians' health at risk with an unnecessary election.

His tightrope walk came in a speech minutes after Trudeau announced that Gov. Gen. Mary Simon had granted the prime minister's request to dissolve Parliament, plunging the nation into its second federal election in less than two years.

"A leader who cared about the best interests of Canadians would be straining every sinew to secure the recovery right now. Instead, Justin Trudeau has called an election," O'Toole said.

"We shouldn't be risking that for political games or political gain."

The Tory leader made his opening-day remarks from a broadcast studio erected earlier this year in a ballroom at the Westin hotel in downtown Ottawa.

Equipped with multiple cameras and a massive background screen, the curtained space emits a soft blue glow amid the Conservative logos and stage lighting. Some three dozen journalists and staffers dotted the room, but no supporters or constituents were on hand for cheers and elbow bumps as O'Toole stressed pandemic safety.

The top Tory, who has visited more than a half-dozen provinces over the past five weeks, said he would be speaking with Quebecers and British Columbians in virtual townhalls later Sunday. His approach stood in contrast with that of Trudeau, who bumped elbows and snapped selfies with locals -- while wearing a mask -- in a Montreal suburb on Sunday.

Everyone who climbs aboard O'Toole's campaign bus or plane must be fully vaccinated, with the party explaining that the measure is necessary for smooth travel between provinces where unvaccinated people are required to quarantine upon arrival.

"I can assure you the Conservative party -- all of our team members, all of our candidates -- will be working hard to try and work with public health leaders to follow health advice and to keep Canadians safe."

O'Toole has also stopped short of supporting a vaccine passport for international travel, which the federal government has promised to deliver by early fall. Instead, he said Trudeau should partner with the provinces on their respective approaches, from proof-of-vaccination documentation to rapid testing.

Calling an election amid a pandemic marks an effort to "confuse and divide people with respect to their health-care decisions," O'Toole added.

Trudeau said earlier Sunday that Canadians need to choose how the country finishes the fight against COVID-19, making the case that its institutions are "strong" enough to handle an election during a fourth wave.

In his speech, O'Toole rehashed part of his pre-election pitch to Canadians, stressing a "Canada recovery plan" he unveiled in March that pledges to restore within a year one million jobs lost to the pandemic.

A Tory government would ease affordability problems for struggling families by revving up the economy alongside a balanced budget -- within the next decade -- he said.

New anticorruption laws, mental health funding and made-in-Canada pharmaceuticals also comprised part of the pitch.

During a livestreamed question-and-answer with Quebecers, O'Toole responded to a query asserting that immigration could take jobs away from locals.

"Immigration is very important for our country, particularly for our economic recovery," he said in French during the teleconference, adding that an unauthorized border crossing in the province's southeast where thousands of asylum seekers enter Canada each year must also be addressed.

The words "climate change" and "environment" did not appear in O'Toole's speech.

In April, O'Toole proposed a loyalty-card style of carbon pricing where consumers would see what they pay on fuel stored in an account that can be used for green purchases later.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2021.