The chair of the National Citizens Inquiry on COVID-19 says he fully supports more hearings and the board only went public over internal power struggles to clear up confusion.Ted Kuntz replaced David Ross as NCI chairman on December 13 after the latter was voted off of the board. Ross and Ches Crosbie remain as directors of Citizens Inquiry Canada (CIC), the non-profit corporation that initially spent money on behalf of the NCI. On January 17, 2024, the NCI dispensed of the CIC and set up a new corporation called National Citizens Inquiry.The CIC directors have stated the NCI should not hold more hearings, but Kuntz told the Western Standard more stories need to be told. He said roughly three dozen people testified in each city, chosen from a potential pool of roughly 150 witnesses. Fear of reprisals led many to shrink back, but others found their voice.“When people found their courage to speak out and testify, it really strengthened them. And they just didn't stop speaking out that day; that became their way of moving forward,” Kuntz said in an interview.“The NCI was a transformative experience for so many people, I would say for millions. And everyone that I spoke to felt it was absolutely critical that we continue this citizen-led, citizen-funded, independent, open government initiative to try to bring more transparency and accountability.”Kuntz said the desire by CIC directors to prevent future NCI hearings went beyond a “philosophical” disagreement on the proper scope and duration of the inquiry.“When Ches Crosbie and others began to put out a narrative that it was time to put a bookend on the NCI …I have to say, I was absolutely shocked by that messaging. And it was like, where's this coming from?” Kuntz explained.“I have no doubt now that there is an effort to try to silence the NCI and they had to do that by trying to control it. They've taken actions to do that…. or I think to discredit it, or confuse people sufficiently that it loses its credibility.”In a memo posted online, NCI lead counsel Shawn Buckley theorized some CIC directors wanted to wrap up the NCI to protect a future Conservative government from “inconvenient” political problems. Both Crosbie and Ross have told the Western Standard this characterization is groundless.In a February 2 online interview, Crosbie said more hearings were a “great mission” but the NCI itself should be considered over.Crosbie told the Western Standard, “The members of the original corporation, the legacy cooperation, includes people like Shawn Buckley, who are part of the group who departed and gone their own way. We've agreed to negotiate with them about resolving differences."Kuntz disagrees with this characterization."We believe that our documentation is very strong to say that the only authority that was delegated to them was to receive and disburse funds at the direction of the NCI support group," Kuntz explained."I've used the language of a hostile takeover, but they have literally taken charge of the NCI and been claiming it for their own. And I think that's beyond irresponsible."The CIC sent out emails in the name of the NCI and also took over the legacy social media accounts, including the Twitter (“X”) account @Inquiry_Canada.Kuntz said one of the CIC Twitter (“X”) postings linked to Alex Jones and that the NCI board would never have allowed that.“The NCI was very careful in our messaging to stay within our lane, which was the testimony that was delivered during the inquiry, and not associate with any other organization, no matter how much we supported their work. It was important to us to maintain this separation and this independence,” Kuntz said.“People will say, ‘Oh, now the NCI is connected with Alex Jones. That reduces their credibility.’ That's just an example of where we feel like the NCI brand, so to speak, is being put at risk.”According to NCI lead counsel Shawn Buckley, the CIC has also set up its own website NationalCitizensInquiry.com. The original website NationalCitizensInquiry.ca is in the hands of the NCI board, which has also regained sole use of the info@nationalcitizensinquiry.ca email account.“I feel like there's an agenda here to discredit the NCI and confusion is a good way to do that,” Kuntz said.The NCI will hold hearings in Regina May 30 to June 1, with more to follow in Vancouver and either Toronto or Ottawa.
