REGINA—Saskatchewan MLA Nadine Wilson says she rejected the provincial vaccine mandate because it was an unprincipled violation of privacy, adding that citizens need an apology from the government to heal.
Ms. Wilson, who represents Saskatchewan Rivers, gave her testimony in Regina May 30 as the first elected official to testify to the Regina National Citizens Inquiry on COVID-19.
Ms. Wilson testified that vaccine mandates made things very difficult for people, who in some cases lost their businesses or even homes.
“What people are telling me is that in order to heal, in order for them to move on, they need an apology,” Ms. Wilson said.
Ms. Wilson left the governing Saskatchewan Party caucus in September 2021, after party leadership said all caucus members had given verbal confirmation that they had received COVID-19 vaccination, but later Ms. Wilson didn’t provide written proof.
“I'd never been asked for proof of my vaccinations in my entire life. And I said, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be asking me these questions,’” Ms. Wilson said.
“I thought I had really strong connections and friendships and bonds with my fellow colleagues in the government. We would join in barbecues, family weddings, family funerals. They stayed in my home, I stayed at theirs. But all that changed when I decided to leave my party over my vaccination status.”
Saskatchewan brought in its vaccine mandate in October 2021, with some venues and services requiring showing a vaccine passport or a negative COVID-19 test. The province ended its vaccine mandate in February 2022, among the first to do so amid widespread protests against mandates and COVID-19 policies across the country.
Ms. Wilson said at the time, after Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer issued emergency orders, cabinet was shut out of communication and decisions.
“We were instructed not to talk to that doctor,” she said. “The very essence of democracy was thrown away, as decisions were made behind closed doors with little or no transparency, no accountability.”
Ms. Wilson said premiers in Canada “panicked” and abandoned emergency management procedures written prior to the pandemic. She said policies that were implemented “created an overwhelming sense of loneliness and despair” and “crushed families.”
“Fear was paramount. Fear from the government, fear from the media, it was just pounded into people,” she said. “Thousands of people from across the province ended up reaching out to me, as their own elected officials turned off their phones, shut their offices, and would not reply.”
Ms. Wilson said she had to hire more staff to handle the “tsunami of phone calls” and correspondence she received.
“I‘ll never forget the shock and bewilderment of all these people in Saskatchewan crying on the phone, talking about suicide, leaving the province, leaving Canada. And I’ll probably carry that with me forever,” she said.
“There was a lot of miscommunication and lack of communication to the elected officials of how to present the pandemic to our constituents and how to offer hope and guidance to them. The best I could do was listen and just be there and say, ‘No, this isn’t going to last forever.’”
Ms. Wilson submitted written questions to the government to ask about pandemic restrictions, but she said she didn’t get proper answers.
“The answers I got were far from accountable or transparent. I didn’t get any answers,” she said. “I’m very sorry for what happened to the people of Saskatchewan in their dire, dire need. They could not get answers. I could not get answers for them.”
Ms. Wilson helped establish the Saskatchewan United Party, which was registered in November of 2022. She led the party until recently and has said she will run under the party’s banner in the provincial election next October.
