The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada co-chaired a committee on COVID-19 with the federal minister of Justice since 2020, a BC activist discovered..Kari Simpson, founder of Culture Guard, shared her discoveries with the Western Standard..Culture Guard is a lobby group dedicated to the natural family, parental rights, the sanctity of life, liberty, respect, judicial accountability and the proper rule of law..“Commencing on May 8, 2020, and unbeknownst to most lawyers challenging COVID lockdowns, job loss, and Charter violations, Chief Justice [Richard] Wagner and Minister of Justice for Canada David Lametti formed a joint committee on court operation and how to respond,” Simpson wrote in a document summarizing her discoveries..“This is concerning in and of itself, but the list of committee members casts a troubling light on who was influencing judicial decision making.”.The information was hiding in plain sight. A Department of Justice press release May 8, 2020 announced the committee was co-chaired by Wagner and Lametti held its first teleconference earlier in the day..“By providing provincial, territorial, and judicial decision-makers with the best possible health and safety information, the action committee will support them in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of court users, while advancing Canadians’ common interest in a safe and accessible justice system,” the press release explained..Initial committee members included the following:.Hon. Geoffrey Morawetz, chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of JusticeHon. Mary Moreau, chief justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of AlbertaHon. Terry Matchett, chief justice of the Provincial Court of Alberta and Past Chair of the Canadian Council of Chief JudgesHon. David Eby, attorney general of British ColumbiaNathalie G. Drouin, Ad. E., deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of CanadaTina Namiesniowski, president of the Public Health Agency of CanadaRenée Thériault, executive legal officer, Supreme Court of Canada (member ex officio).Read more: Lawyers complain about Canada’s top judge’s comments on truckers freedom convoy..Simpson pointed out that Namiesniowski, then head of PHAC “appears to have no medical background,” but spent 30 years in the civil service in various portfolios..On Sept. 18, 2020, Namiesniowski resigned from PHAC 18 months after she started there. She thanked Dr. Theresa Tam for being the “exceptional” and “truly inspirational” public face of PHAC throughout the pandemic. She returned to the civil service in March 2021 in a different department, and became deputy Mmnister champion for Employees with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service in November 2022..The action committee met weekly at its inception, then shifted to monthly meetings. According to the committee website, updated May 2023, the committee will continue to meet until at least the fall of 2024. .The committee webpage says it exists to provide “national guidance” and an “alignment of practices.” Currently, “the action committee considers the legacy effects of the pandemic, including through promoting innovative practices and providing guidance for addressing challenges such as case backlog and delays.”.The committee remains co-chaired by Wagner and Lametti, with Morawetz and Moreau maintaining their membership. Other inaugural members have been replaced by the following:.Honourable Lise Maisonneuve, chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice and chair of the Canadian Council of Chief JudgesHonourable Shannon Smallwood, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, chair of the Indigenous Advisory GroupHonourable Niki Sharma, attorney general of British ColumbiaHonourable Doug Downey, attorney general of OntarioShalene Curtis-Micallef, deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of CanadaJeremy Akerstream, deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of Manitoba, representative of the Heads of Court AdministrationHeather Jeffrey, president of the Public Health Agency of CanadaStéphanie Bachand, executive legal officer, Supreme Court of Canada (member ex officio).Simpson also found on Jan. 15, 2020, PHAC activated a Health Portfolio Operations Centre to carry out the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events that was enacted October 31, 2017. .She found Health Minister Patty Hajdu ordered an independent review of the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) in September 2020. A team of GPHIN analysts was reassigned to other tasks in 2018 and 2019, which compromised the surveillance system that helped Canada and the World Health Organization monitor potential outbreaks. .GPHIN flagged a new pneumonia-like virus in Wuhan in December 2019. However, some of its scientists complained that early warnings about the threat of COVID-19 weren’t heeded. Canadian PPE was sent to China, yet flights from there to Canada continued..The judiciary drew on the Recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines, a document that evolved as evidence came in. The archived version on Dec. 15, 2020 showed the government was cautious about the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine when it was approved for public use..“There are no data yet to be able to assess the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine against hospitalizations or deaths specifically,” the document said at the time..“The authorized COVID-19 vaccine may be efficacious against severe COVID-19 outcomes … but the number of severe cases that have been observed in clinical trials to date are insufficient to draw firm conclusions…".“There is currently no reported evidence on the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine to prevent asymptomatic infection, to reduce viral shedding, or to prevent transmission. However, studies are ongoing.”
The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada co-chaired a committee on COVID-19 with the federal minister of Justice since 2020, a BC activist discovered..Kari Simpson, founder of Culture Guard, shared her discoveries with the Western Standard..Culture Guard is a lobby group dedicated to the natural family, parental rights, the sanctity of life, liberty, respect, judicial accountability and the proper rule of law..“Commencing on May 8, 2020, and unbeknownst to most lawyers challenging COVID lockdowns, job loss, and Charter violations, Chief Justice [Richard] Wagner and Minister of Justice for Canada David Lametti formed a joint committee on court operation and how to respond,” Simpson wrote in a document summarizing her discoveries..“This is concerning in and of itself, but the list of committee members casts a troubling light on who was influencing judicial decision making.”.The information was hiding in plain sight. A Department of Justice press release May 8, 2020 announced the committee was co-chaired by Wagner and Lametti held its first teleconference earlier in the day..“By providing provincial, territorial, and judicial decision-makers with the best possible health and safety information, the action committee will support them in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of court users, while advancing Canadians’ common interest in a safe and accessible justice system,” the press release explained..Initial committee members included the following:.Hon. Geoffrey Morawetz, chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of JusticeHon. Mary Moreau, chief justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of AlbertaHon. Terry Matchett, chief justice of the Provincial Court of Alberta and Past Chair of the Canadian Council of Chief JudgesHon. David Eby, attorney general of British ColumbiaNathalie G. Drouin, Ad. E., deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of CanadaTina Namiesniowski, president of the Public Health Agency of CanadaRenée Thériault, executive legal officer, Supreme Court of Canada (member ex officio).Read more: Lawyers complain about Canada’s top judge’s comments on truckers freedom convoy..Simpson pointed out that Namiesniowski, then head of PHAC “appears to have no medical background,” but spent 30 years in the civil service in various portfolios..On Sept. 18, 2020, Namiesniowski resigned from PHAC 18 months after she started there. She thanked Dr. Theresa Tam for being the “exceptional” and “truly inspirational” public face of PHAC throughout the pandemic. She returned to the civil service in March 2021 in a different department, and became deputy Mmnister champion for Employees with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service in November 2022..The action committee met weekly at its inception, then shifted to monthly meetings. According to the committee website, updated May 2023, the committee will continue to meet until at least the fall of 2024. .The committee webpage says it exists to provide “national guidance” and an “alignment of practices.” Currently, “the action committee considers the legacy effects of the pandemic, including through promoting innovative practices and providing guidance for addressing challenges such as case backlog and delays.”.The committee remains co-chaired by Wagner and Lametti, with Morawetz and Moreau maintaining their membership. Other inaugural members have been replaced by the following:.Honourable Lise Maisonneuve, chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice and chair of the Canadian Council of Chief JudgesHonourable Shannon Smallwood, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, chair of the Indigenous Advisory GroupHonourable Niki Sharma, attorney general of British ColumbiaHonourable Doug Downey, attorney general of OntarioShalene Curtis-Micallef, deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of CanadaJeremy Akerstream, deputy minister of Justice and deputy attorney general of Manitoba, representative of the Heads of Court AdministrationHeather Jeffrey, president of the Public Health Agency of CanadaStéphanie Bachand, executive legal officer, Supreme Court of Canada (member ex officio).Simpson also found on Jan. 15, 2020, PHAC activated a Health Portfolio Operations Centre to carry out the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events that was enacted October 31, 2017. .She found Health Minister Patty Hajdu ordered an independent review of the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) in September 2020. A team of GPHIN analysts was reassigned to other tasks in 2018 and 2019, which compromised the surveillance system that helped Canada and the World Health Organization monitor potential outbreaks. .GPHIN flagged a new pneumonia-like virus in Wuhan in December 2019. However, some of its scientists complained that early warnings about the threat of COVID-19 weren’t heeded. Canadian PPE was sent to China, yet flights from there to Canada continued..The judiciary drew on the Recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines, a document that evolved as evidence came in. The archived version on Dec. 15, 2020 showed the government was cautious about the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine when it was approved for public use..“There are no data yet to be able to assess the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine against hospitalizations or deaths specifically,” the document said at the time..“The authorized COVID-19 vaccine may be efficacious against severe COVID-19 outcomes … but the number of severe cases that have been observed in clinical trials to date are insufficient to draw firm conclusions…".“There is currently no reported evidence on the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine to prevent asymptomatic infection, to reduce viral shedding, or to prevent transmission. However, studies are ongoing.”
