Independent Inquiry Hears From Doctors, Professors on COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries

Panelists at "A Citizens' Hearing," an independent inquiry of Canada's pandemic response, listen to stories of Canadians adversely affected by COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, in Toronto on June 23, 2022. (L–R) Former Party leader and MP Preston Manning, retired Ontario pediatrician Dr. Susan Natsheh, and David Ross, president of the Canadian COVID Care Alliance. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times

TORONTO—Several experts spoke about COVID-19 vaccine injuries at a citizens-based independent inquiry looking into Canada’s pandemic response and giving a platform to those adversely harmed by COVID-19 mandates to share their stories.

The Citizens’ Hearing entered its second day on June 23, featuring doctors, professors, and other experts who presented data and evidence showing the deficiencies of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The three-day inquiry, which winds up on June 24, is being co-hosted by the Canadian COVID Care Alliance.

One speaker was Dr. Patrick Phillips, a family doctor who primarily practised in Englehart, Ontario. He told the panelists that he noticed “some pretty major issues” with Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination system when he saw some patients reporting to the emergency department with new or worsening symptoms after getting their shots.

But after reporting the initial five cases to the province’s public health officials, Phillips said he was told in a letter from the officials that none of the cases could be categorized as being adversely affected by the vaccines.

“I was quite surprised at this. I'd understand if one or two were rejected, but all of them essentially were rejected,” he said.

Phillips said a document from the public health agency says an adverse event is only counted as a vaccine injury when it occurs within 30 minutes after the injection. He noted that there were even stricter criteria for adverse events to be reported to Health Canada.

Phillips later publicized the letter, believing that people should know such adverse events are not being reported. But this and a series of events that followed eventually led to his licence being suspended in May by Ontario’s regulatory college for medical doctors. He was also prohibited from prescribing ivermectin—an anti-parasitic agent that Health Canada says should not be used to treat COVID-19—though some experts have recommended using it for the early treatment of the disease.

‘False Narrative’

Canada’s Chief Public Health Office Dr. Theresa Tam said last week that because vaccine efficiency wanes significantly over time, she recommends health officials urge Canadians to keep their vaccinations “up to date” rather than focusing on the specific number of doses.

However, Dr. Eric Payne, a pediatric neurologist from Alberta, told the panelists that the province’s public health data shows that people who received two doses of the vaccine were more likely to be infected with the Omicron variant compared to those who just got one shot; starting in late March, people who got three shots became the most likely group to be infected. Similarly, those fully vaccinated in Ontario were the majority group to contract the virus from mid-December 2021 to January 2022.

“What you hear all the time now is: ‘Thank goodness I got vaccinated. I got COVID, my whole family got COVID, but I didn’t end up in the hospital,’” Payne said. “The reality is, if you are 60 and healthy, you’re not obese, and you don’t have type 2 diabetes, your risk of getting COVID and being hospitalized for it is less than 1 percent.”

“Everybody is saying ‘Thank goodness I got vaccinated and not in the hospital’—it is faulty logic. You had a 99 percent chance of not ending up in the hospital before the vaccine.”

However, Payne said there were no platforms for people like him, who object the official discourse, to share data and evidence.

“There is no public debate that’s allowed to take place,” he said, adding that “the problem right now is that the mainstream media ... are perpetuating a false narrative.”

Canada’s Democracy

Preston Manning, former Reform Party leader and panelist at the hearing, told The Epoch Times that after listening to the testimonies, he found it most disturbing that the government refuses to listen to experts who hold contrary views of its pandemic response policies.

“The most disturbing thing is when you ask them: ‘Have you presented this [information] to the government? Have you presented this to the health officials? And if so, what response have you got?’ Almost everyone says, ‘Yes, we have made these arguments to the government, and get no reply,’” Manning said.

“[This] is an indication of the weakness of our democracy, not just the weakness of the health system.”

He urged Canadian youths to “be concerned” about how the government handles the COVID-19 pandemic, as the younger generation will be most affected by the public health measures.

“The most serious negative impacts of these measures are the impacts on children and the younger generation because they’ve got the implications for years and for years, and if we can’t satisfactorily address those kinds of impact, then we’re jeopardizing the future,” Manning said.

“I’m optimistic that that can be done, but efforts have to be made to make it happen. It’s not going to happen naturally.”