Former Reform Party leaders Preston Manning will be calling for an independent, national, citizen-led inquiry into Canada's COVID-19 response. "Canadian governments exercised unprecedented powers during COVID-19. Powers that set a precedent for you and your children's future. A precedent that cannot go unexamined or unquestioned," a website reads. Preston will announce the citizen-led and funded inquiry on Wednesday from the West Block on Parliament Hill. According to its website, the inquiry will focus primarily on the impacts COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates had on Canadians. Canadians who support the inquiry can also sign a petition on its website. The inquiry plans to hold a total of seven hearings. The witnesses, as well as the number of signatories, have not been revealed. Manning is not the first politician to call for an inquiry into Canada's pandemic response. Back in April 2021, then-leader of the Conservative Party Erin O'Toole said his government, if elected, would examine the Liberal's "slow and confused" pandemic response. "A public inquiry will ensure that all lessons learned from the crisis are publicly aired and improvements can immediately be adopted," O'Toole said. "Canada must be better prepared for future threats. We cannot afford to once again fail to keep Canadians safe." In response to O'Toole's comments, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said a full investigation into Canada's pandemic response was required at the "appropriate time."“We are still in a crisis and so our focus remains right now on getting Canadians and Canada through this global health crisis… And when the time is right, our government will be very open to examining very thoroughly the response of this country to the COVID-19 crisis,” she said.In the United Kingdom, an ex-judge announced earlier this month he opened a public inquiry into how the country handled the pandemic, with a focus on whether the “level of loss was inevitable or whether things could have been done better.” Manning founded the Reform Party of Canada in 1987, leading it until it evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000. In 2003, that party merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the modern Conservative Party of Canada. Manning repeatedly criticized the federal government's handling of COVID-19. Back in April 2021, Manning wrote in the National Post the health impacts of the virus should have been balanced with the "major impacts of the health-protection measures that have been adopted." He added the federal government should have publicly demonstrated the justification for any limitations imposed on Canadians' constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms. During the Canada Strong & Free conference in May 2022, Manning claimed the sentiments that led to the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa could be an "enormous source of political energy," if properly harnessed by the Conservatives. .Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
