Another 130 injured, serving and 'expulsed' members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) joined a second lawsuit seeking $1 million each, due to the military’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy..These men and women from all branches and ranks within the CAF include high-ranking officers and many special forces members..This follows a $500 million lawsuit launched in June involving 330 CAF members who suffered injuries or were forced out because they refused to be injected with an experimental vaccine for personal or religious reasons..READ MORE: $500-million military COVID lawsuit called 'malicious'.The Crown rejected the first class action lawsuit as “scandalous, frivolous and vexatious” in a statement of defence filed in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench July 12..It’ll be up to the court to decide. However, if disturbing summaries of sworn affidavits in this second lawsuit prove accurate, the accusing finger of malice is pointed in the wrong direction..The lawsuit alleges numerous and egregious violations to established law, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and failure to protect and treat faithfully serving CAF members with fairness, respect and dignity all Canadians should be afforded..“This lawsuit is not about the injuries themselves but it's showing consequences of some of these people being forced to take the vaccine,” said Catherine Christensen with Valour Law in St. Albert, which launched both lawsuits..“This is an additional group of people that are looking to bring forward a claim of abuse of power by the Canadian Armed Forces,” said Christensen.. Catherine ChristensenCatherine Christensen of Valour Law, studied military law while training to be a lawyer. She now represents aggrieved veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces who claim harms as a result of the CAF policies on COVID vaccination. .“The consequences for them personally, and for some their careers are over, because they took the vaccines,” said Christensen who filed the lawsuit in federal court Wednesday..It includes veterans who refused the jab and were forced out because of the directives..“We also have a lot of still serving who were coerced into injections. And some were quite badly injured.”.“They thought they were saving their careers and they ended up with permanent life-altering injuries.”.The lawsuit alleges the chain of command allowed “the physical and/or psychological torture of members under the command of CAF commissioned officers.”.“The Plaintiffs plead that the Defendants, by virtue of the conduct included in this Statement of Claim, have inflicted mental, physical and emotional distress by engaging in conduct that constitutes conduct that is flagrant and outrageous; that was calculated to produce harm and produce the consequences that flowed from the Directives; and that resulted in injury to the Plaintiffs.”.“The Plaintiffs plead that the conduct of the Defendants as outlined in this Statement of Claim demonstrates a wanton, high-handed and callous disregard for the interests of the Plaintiffs. This conduct merits an award of aggravated and punitive damages.”.It alleges the defendants named violated established privacy and religious choice laws, abandoned “safety mechanisms for assessing drugs injected its members” and ignored “express legislative limits on their actions including being barred from using military members as subjects for testing new medical treatments or drugs.”.The mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy was enforced in October 2021. In October 2022, the CAF ended the blanket vaccines but deemed them mandatory for special forces, quick response units or members serving on warships operating overseas, NATO or UN deployments..“There’s one woman in there, she took the third booster so she could deploy. While she was on deployment her aorta dissected. It’s a wonder she’s still alive to tell the story.”.The lawsuit is filed against Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen, Lt.-Gen. Jocelyn Paul, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny, former defence minister Anita Anand, former deputy defence minister Jody Thomas, Surgeon General Maj.-Gen. JGM Bilodeau, Chaplain General Brigadier-Gen. JLG Belisle, Judge Advocate General Rear-Admiral Genevieve Bernatchez, and His Majesty the King in Right of Canada..The plaintiffs are seeking $1 million each in general and aggravated damages “arising from the Defendants’ wrongful and/or negligent conduct resulting in harm.”.They seek damages against Department of National Defence (DND) and the CAF in the amount of $350 million for the “failure” to follow the National Defence Act, abide by the administrative policies of the CAF and apply and follow procedures..Punitive damages would include their violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms..It alleges Eyre as the “final authority” issued “an unlawful order on October 25, 2021, in violation of established law and constitutional rights.”.It calls on the CAF to be prohibited from “issuing subsequent orders or directives of a substantially similar or identical nature that prohibit or further restrict individuals who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 from serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.”.The lawsuit claims the conduct of Eyre, Bernatchez and Belisle in supporting directives violated the plaintiff’s rights to freedom of conscience that is protected under the Charter..It alleges Bilodeau’s conduct in supporting the vaccine directives “violates the Plaintiffs’ rights to life, liberty and security of the person and is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice outlined in Section 7 of the Charter..The plaintiff’s right to privacy and rights to equality were violated, it alleges..“During the Defendants’ tenure in office, they engaged in malfeasance, which is defined as the intentional commission of an unlawful act or omission of a lawful duty.”.It alleges the chain of command ignored express legislative limits on their actions; accelerated and misapplied administrative procedure such as the remedial process, ignored the accommodation process, ignored laws on the right to privacy, informed consent and the right to choose medical treatment..Christensen backs up her lawsuit with established legislation, regulations and enactments from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the 1982 Constitution Act, the Crown Liability Proceedings Act, the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Civil Code of Quebec, the Nuremberg Code, the National Defence Act, Kings Regulations and Orders, Defence Administration Orders and Directives and the Directive on Vaccination..At one point Eyre, his duty to fight for and protect the men and women he commands, flippantly told media that anyone who refused the vaccine was unfit to wear the uniform..Now it’s up to the courts to determine who wasn’t worthy of wearing the uniform..(First in a series of two articles by Linda Slobodian. Her second piece, to be published Saturday, details specific cases of hardship and injury placed before the court.)
Another 130 injured, serving and 'expulsed' members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) joined a second lawsuit seeking $1 million each, due to the military’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy..These men and women from all branches and ranks within the CAF include high-ranking officers and many special forces members..This follows a $500 million lawsuit launched in June involving 330 CAF members who suffered injuries or were forced out because they refused to be injected with an experimental vaccine for personal or religious reasons..READ MORE: $500-million military COVID lawsuit called 'malicious'.The Crown rejected the first class action lawsuit as “scandalous, frivolous and vexatious” in a statement of defence filed in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench July 12..It’ll be up to the court to decide. However, if disturbing summaries of sworn affidavits in this second lawsuit prove accurate, the accusing finger of malice is pointed in the wrong direction..The lawsuit alleges numerous and egregious violations to established law, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and failure to protect and treat faithfully serving CAF members with fairness, respect and dignity all Canadians should be afforded..“This lawsuit is not about the injuries themselves but it's showing consequences of some of these people being forced to take the vaccine,” said Catherine Christensen with Valour Law in St. Albert, which launched both lawsuits..“This is an additional group of people that are looking to bring forward a claim of abuse of power by the Canadian Armed Forces,” said Christensen.. Catherine ChristensenCatherine Christensen of Valour Law, studied military law while training to be a lawyer. She now represents aggrieved veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces who claim harms as a result of the CAF policies on COVID vaccination. .“The consequences for them personally, and for some their careers are over, because they took the vaccines,” said Christensen who filed the lawsuit in federal court Wednesday..It includes veterans who refused the jab and were forced out because of the directives..“We also have a lot of still serving who were coerced into injections. And some were quite badly injured.”.“They thought they were saving their careers and they ended up with permanent life-altering injuries.”.The lawsuit alleges the chain of command allowed “the physical and/or psychological torture of members under the command of CAF commissioned officers.”.“The Plaintiffs plead that the Defendants, by virtue of the conduct included in this Statement of Claim, have inflicted mental, physical and emotional distress by engaging in conduct that constitutes conduct that is flagrant and outrageous; that was calculated to produce harm and produce the consequences that flowed from the Directives; and that resulted in injury to the Plaintiffs.”.“The Plaintiffs plead that the conduct of the Defendants as outlined in this Statement of Claim demonstrates a wanton, high-handed and callous disregard for the interests of the Plaintiffs. This conduct merits an award of aggravated and punitive damages.”.It alleges the defendants named violated established privacy and religious choice laws, abandoned “safety mechanisms for assessing drugs injected its members” and ignored “express legislative limits on their actions including being barred from using military members as subjects for testing new medical treatments or drugs.”.The mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy was enforced in October 2021. In October 2022, the CAF ended the blanket vaccines but deemed them mandatory for special forces, quick response units or members serving on warships operating overseas, NATO or UN deployments..“There’s one woman in there, she took the third booster so she could deploy. While she was on deployment her aorta dissected. It’s a wonder she’s still alive to tell the story.”.The lawsuit is filed against Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen, Lt.-Gen. Jocelyn Paul, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny, former defence minister Anita Anand, former deputy defence minister Jody Thomas, Surgeon General Maj.-Gen. JGM Bilodeau, Chaplain General Brigadier-Gen. JLG Belisle, Judge Advocate General Rear-Admiral Genevieve Bernatchez, and His Majesty the King in Right of Canada..The plaintiffs are seeking $1 million each in general and aggravated damages “arising from the Defendants’ wrongful and/or negligent conduct resulting in harm.”.They seek damages against Department of National Defence (DND) and the CAF in the amount of $350 million for the “failure” to follow the National Defence Act, abide by the administrative policies of the CAF and apply and follow procedures..Punitive damages would include their violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms..It alleges Eyre as the “final authority” issued “an unlawful order on October 25, 2021, in violation of established law and constitutional rights.”.It calls on the CAF to be prohibited from “issuing subsequent orders or directives of a substantially similar or identical nature that prohibit or further restrict individuals who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 from serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.”.The lawsuit claims the conduct of Eyre, Bernatchez and Belisle in supporting directives violated the plaintiff’s rights to freedom of conscience that is protected under the Charter..It alleges Bilodeau’s conduct in supporting the vaccine directives “violates the Plaintiffs’ rights to life, liberty and security of the person and is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice outlined in Section 7 of the Charter..The plaintiff’s right to privacy and rights to equality were violated, it alleges..“During the Defendants’ tenure in office, they engaged in malfeasance, which is defined as the intentional commission of an unlawful act or omission of a lawful duty.”.It alleges the chain of command ignored express legislative limits on their actions; accelerated and misapplied administrative procedure such as the remedial process, ignored the accommodation process, ignored laws on the right to privacy, informed consent and the right to choose medical treatment..Christensen backs up her lawsuit with established legislation, regulations and enactments from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the 1982 Constitution Act, the Crown Liability Proceedings Act, the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Civil Code of Quebec, the Nuremberg Code, the National Defence Act, Kings Regulations and Orders, Defence Administration Orders and Directives and the Directive on Vaccination..At one point Eyre, his duty to fight for and protect the men and women he commands, flippantly told media that anyone who refused the vaccine was unfit to wear the uniform..Now it’s up to the courts to determine who wasn’t worthy of wearing the uniform..(First in a series of two articles by Linda Slobodian. Her second piece, to be published Saturday, details specific cases of hardship and injury placed before the court.)
