National Citizens’ Inquiry Report to Soon Be Released

Parliament Hill is seen below a Canadian flag in Gatineau, Quebec, on Sept. 18, 2020. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

More than a month after the end of the National Citizens’ Inquiry (NCI), which examined the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lead legal counsel says a report on the findings will soon be released and the group is considering other ways to continue spreading the word.

“The intention really was just to hold the hearings, see what recommendations the commissioners come up with, and then, where appropriate, try and get those implemented,” said Shawn Buckley, principal lawyer for Buckley and Company and lead legal counsel for the NCI.

“We didn’t anticipate that the whole adventure would resonate so much, so we’re really trying to figure out, should we continue, and what does that look like?”

The NCI describes itself as a “citizen-led and citizen-funded initiative that is completely independent from government.” Over the course of several months, it held hearings in cities across Canada to examine how the pandemic measures put in place by all levels of government impacted Canadians in the four categories of health, fundamental rights and freedoms, social well-being, and economic prosperity.

Masks, Lockdowns, Vaccine Harms

Over 325 Canadians—among them, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and ordinary citizens—testified about the harms wrought by government policies such as lockdowns, mask mandates, and COVID-19 vaccines.

Several doctors, researchers, and professors were highly critical of COVID-19 vaccines, arguing they were not properly tested and resulted in many injuries and deaths.

Canadian researcher Jessica Rose said drug companies rushed their vaccine trials and failed to account for factors such as long-term data and safety and efficacy; mRNA pioneer Dr. Robert Malone said COVID vaccines have been shown to damage the brain, as well as the endocrine and reproductive systems of its recipients; and Dr. Joseph Fraiman showed that Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were associated with an excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest in about one in every 565 people.

Meanwhile, several medical professors testified that potential treatments for the disease were ignored or actively discouraged. Alberta physician Daniel Nagase claimed success in treating COVID-19 patients with ivermectin, but Health Canada disagreed, stating there was no evidence for ivermectin’s effectiveness and it was unauthorized for that use. Nagase was later removed from medical duty after administering ivermectin to his final patient. Psychiatrist Greg Passey also questioned the lack of emphasis governments and public health authorities placed on potential treatments for COVID-19, such as ivermectin.

Canada’s legacy media received considerable criticism during the NCI hearings. Rodney Palmer, a former journalist with multiple outlets, labelled the media’s pandemic reporting as “propaganda,” arguing they heavily favoured narratives put forth by the federal government and corporations. Marianne Klowak, a former CBC reporter of 34 years, accused the national broadcaster of silencing one side of the COVID-19 debate while portraying it as “dangerous” and spreading misinformation.

Sense of Community

Buckley said during the hearings that he was “constantly learning and at times being totally surprised” by what he heard.

“At the end, you just have a much different picture. It’s almost like it’s this big jigsaw puzzle and some of the pieces started being put together. I mean, there are still blank parts that are unfinished, but that was pretty incredible,” he said.

As the hearings went on, Buckley said he saw a sense of community develop in people who felt encouraged by what had been revealed.

“Everyone was feeling, ‘Wait a second, I’m not alone. There are a lot of us, and we’ve all felt afraid, but we can work through that,’” he said.

“There’s something very deeply meaningful and gratifying and affirming about being able to tell a story about something deeply personal that’s affected you. I didn’t understand that before we started, just how meaningful that was, and just how therapeutic it was for people listening, to participate in these stories.”

Buckley said despite the hearings having ended, there are some significant developments underway. The NCI commissioners are expected to soon release a report on the findings, which will lay out the findings of the hearings and “figure out perhaps how to get them implemented by whoever they would apply to.” The NCI will also be starting up a campaign to encourage people to watch the online testimonies by handing out flyers.

“The little group that started [this] did not have any idea how much of a colossal undertaking it was going to be,” Buckley said, referring to appointing four independent commissioners, holding hearings across the country for 24 days, and arranging for 325 witnesses.

“The fact that it happened at all is just kind of like a miracle of people wanting to get involved and do things. That’s what was so cool about this.”