A B.C. healthcare worker fired for refusing to wear a surgical mask after turning down the flu shot said he was sticking to his morals by opposing the government-mandated policy.

The controversial policy came into effect Dec. 1, 2013. It requires health workers who refuse to get vaccinated to instead wear masks while on the job in an effort to prevent the spread of influenza.

“There was one health care worker in B.C. who refused to abide by the policy….and in fact was terminated,” provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said in a news conference Wednesday.

Arnold Hoekstra, a former nurse’s aide at Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks, told CTV News he declined the shot because he doesn’t believe it is effective in stopping the spread of influenza.

“This is all based on their propaganda which is all through the hospital,” he said. “Their statement being, ‘The best way to avoid getting the flu is to get a flu shot.’ So based on that, which I believe is a lie, I did not receive the flu shot or the mask.”

When authorities confronted him, Hoekstra said he stood firm in his refusal of wearing the mask instead.

“If you think about it, it’s an invasion of the natural process of breathing. Short term you’re okay with it, but what are the long-term results of muzzling yourself for hours on end?”

Hoekstra said he was formally fired by the end of December.

He said he thinks the policy is unjust because it takes choice away from healthcare workers with beliefs contrary to the government’s by forcing them to wear a mask.

“If you think about it, it’s an invasion of the natural process of breathing. Short term, you’re okay with it, but what are the long-term results of muzzling yourself for hours on end?” he said.

Despite a dispute with unions over the new policy, 80 per cent of healthcare workers got the flu shot this season, Kendall said. The remaining 20 per cent wore surgical masks except Hoekstra.

“My conscience would not allow me to wear that mask,” he said.

The province saw a 10 per cent increase in the number of workers who were vaccinated this flu season compared to last year, Kendall said.

B.C. delivered a record-setting 1.4-million doses of flu vaccine throughout B.C. this season, an increase of 75,000 doses over last year, according to health minister Terry Lake.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Ed Watson