A damning report on the Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) COVID-19 response alleges leadership knew vaccines caused “serious” injury, then mandated them for officers and civilian employees, anyway.

EPS employees were discouraged from asking questions about safety and penalised — some severely so — for refusing the jab. Today however, documents released under information access requests show there are members on short or long-term disability due to vaccine-related injuries.

“There are allegations that some deaths may be related to the COVID pandemic response. Not just the vaccines,” Natasha Gonek, the report’s author, told the Western Standard.

“There have been hospitalizations for cardiac injuries. There are people off work because they can no longer meet the fitness requirements. There’s been quite a bit of myocarditis. Skin issues, allergy issues, immune response.”

“Many employees say they are constantly sick now … These were healthy people.”

Yet the report states that “it does not appear the employer is tracking any of this information” on post-vaccine-related medical issues.

Shocking! The independent report — at the request of several EPS employees — is based on countless interviews and thousands of pages of evidence obtained through Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP.)

It lists multiple recommendations, including a call for investigations — criminal and otherwise.

It further claims that despite the number of cases of “injury, illness and alleged death” to employees “growing with time,” EPS “continues to suppress and delay transparency” employing “inaction and refusal” tactics.

There’s “no indication” an internal operational review process has begun.

“The EPS is aware and has been accommodating vaccine injured and ill employees, as well as those who had sustained other harms from other COVID-19 pandemic measures,” states Gonek’s Executive Summary: Analysis of Freedom of Information Disclosure Documents Relating to the Edmonton Police Service COVID-19 Pandemic Response.

FOIP evidence sheds light on why there might be a reluctance for transparency.

“The employer had knowledge of serious worker injury, hospitalization from side effects, prior to the vaccine protocol being implemented in October of 2021,” according to information gathered in the report. “EPS meeting minutes and disclosed information shows that adverse events, and the experimental status of the COVID-19 vaccines were known in January of 2021. These were discussed within the Pandemic Committee and EPS leadership.”

“With knowledge of harm, illness and deaths relating to the vaccine, continuing to mandate the vaccinations in the workplace shows negligence on the part of the employer,” said the report.

The report exposed abuse of power and stomping on Charter rights by forcing mandates and violating medical privacy.

Meanwhile, a “toxic” and punishing work environment targetting “dirty unvaxed” festered; bullies violating conduct codes were not disciplined.

And when employees sought answers to justify vaccine and masking mandates via appropriate internal channels, the employer neglected to practice “due diligence.”

“It was required by law that the EPS communicate to employees all information, including risks or harms, relating to masking, chemical use, social distancing, COVID-19 vaccination, contact tracing and testing.”

Instead, EPS demanded blind obedience.

“This forced compliance, through intimidation, threat, harassment, isolation, conflict and discipline in the workplace was overwhelming, this is on top of the already high level of operation stress from policing.”

With no evidence to support mandates, many members told Gonek they “struggled” with orders to enforce them on the community.

Police now must be “unshackled” to investigate “criminal” conduct swirling around mandates that affect “a good chunk of the population,” said Gonek.

“This level of abuse on the population was negligent, intentional and there was the duty for those in the position of authority to stop the harm.”

That the service was trying to gain voluntary compliance in the general population, but not disclosing those public health orders weren’t enforceable is a “huge issue.”

“And those discussions were being had with government. Those discussions with government are quite substantial because the police were then utilized to get compliance.”

Documentation shows EPS leadership “did understand that the public health orders were not enforceable,” so opted to urge public voluntary compliance.

But compliance was demanded of EPS employees, under threat of 'consequences.'

“Strategy is to make sure messaging is clear that we need to see compliance or there could be consequences,” read minutes from a September 20 2022, pandemic committee meeting.

So, the enforcers were also forced to comply.

“There was never informed, freely given consent for the pandemic measures in the workplace. After lengthy discussions with EPS employees, they confirm that any submission or compliance with the protocol was done under duress, threat of job loss, threat of career advancement or disciplinary charges. Examples were made of the few members that stood firm in not providing information,” said the report.

And now the consequences...

A December 2023 FOIP disclosure revealed 165 employees were granted short-term disability due to COVID-19. It’s unclear which were illness related complications or COVID-19-related issues such as stress.

“However, the FOIP final letter did provide information that there have been paid short- and long- term disability for vaccine related conditions. Employees confirmed there were also accommodations in the workplace for vaccine injured co-workers.”

Meanwhile, the vaccine injured got little support from their union. The Edmonton Police Association (EPA) backed EPS mandates.

“The EPA supported the employer during the COVID-19 pandemic response and have refused to hold the employer for account for the harms, this includes, but is not limited to gatekeeping the injury and illness files,” states the report.

More than 20 sworn members provided statements of vaccine injury and adverse events to EPA President Sgt. Curtis Hoople in spring 2023.

“But so many that have come forward confidentially to their coworkers asking ‘Who is the doctor I can go see. I need medical help.’ They don’t want their information disclosed because they’re worried that they’ll be put on desk duty.”

When workplace measures “escalated without justification” EPS employees joined other City of Edmonton employees. A letter was sent to the EPS and the City of Edmonton “outlining their legal obligations and liabilities for the employers’ actions,” states the report.

But EPS employees ran into brick walls, so decided to obtain information on their own and approached Gonek.

Gonek, a regulatory investigator for the College of Registered Nurses until being let go for refusing to disclose her personal medical information, had become the go-to person for health care practitioners harmed by the system.

Gonek made freedom-of-information requests for COVID-19 related decisions, information, communication and documentation from their employer.

She then sent her report, a summary of FOIP evidence and many interviews with members across Canada, to the Alberta government and some federal MPs.

“The report is intended to further the best interests of the public and to enable a whistleblower pathway for the EPS employees that have sustained physical, psychological, professional, personal and financial harm.”

She received two batches of FOIP documents — 5,421 pages in November 2023 and 3,296 pages in December.

“There’s still a large chunk missing. We’re waiting on the privacy commissioner to review. Their omissions speak volumes because they are omissions from May 2021 through to the end of December 2021.”

“That’s when they would have been discussing the mandatory disclosures, mandatory vaccines, all of that outflow, as well as people who may have been vaccine injured.”

There were “significant omissions and/or exclusions” of documents including “key timeframes with the preparation and implementation of the mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Status Survey and the EPS COVID-19 Vaccination Protocol.”

Many documents were out of sequence, not date stamped and didn’t make “the author, department, agencies, or usage clear.”

Approximately 4,500 emails were deemed non-responsive to the FOIP. Gonek recommended the Office of the Privacy Commissioner address these and other omissions.

Gonek’s recommendations also include:

• A criminal investigation with public oversight by an independent team to review information, evidence, communications and actions of EPS leadership and professionals within the organization.

• An investigation into the chief of police for abuse of his position of authority that resulted in discriminatory and inconsistent application of discipline.

• Investigate EPS leadership and all advisors for possible breach of their duty of care in ensuring laws were followed in communication of personal medical information, access of personal medical information and the interaction with government officials to gain special access to the information in lieu of obtaining it through established channels.

• Determine who or what entity was involved, potentially criminally, in requiring unjustified workplace measures and violations including a lack of, or false, information provided to employees about workplace health and safety and hazards.

• A referral for a criminal investigation into the obstruction of investigations preventing police and others to determine if there is criminal obstruction of justice, breach of trust, Charter and constitutional rights.

• Specific information provided to EPS from Health Canada and Alberta Health used in making decisions regarding masks, isolation, chemical exposure, vaccinations and mandatory rapid testing.

• Violations of professional obligations by Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) members warrant further investigation.

• A call for the justice minister to investigate access, use and disclosure of medical information of employees, the public and detainees for violations.

• A complaint to the Alberta government to investigate failure by EPS and OHS to ensure due diligence in their duty of care for the gross negligence of requiring an irreversible medical therapeutic or testing.

• Investigations should include personal or professional benefit to pushing this unproven product on our law enforcement.

“The courage it has taken all the of law enforcement to keep pressing for truth, transparency and support for their fellow co-workers and communities is truly amazing. They have faced extreme conditions from all angles and are still pushing forward while facing ongoing institutional harm,” said Gonek.

The Western Standard awaits a response from EPS.

“We have received your request and are not in the position to respond at this time,” wrote EPA’s Hoople in an email.

Krahnicle’s Cartoon: February 20, 2022

Related Stories