Opening Statements
Day 2 · September 9, 2026 · 0:14:22
Key points Chairperson Dean Allison opens day two of the inquiry, acknowledging more than 1,400 vaccine-injured Canadians who applied to testify. He thanks Senator Ron Johnson and independent media, noting the inquiry trended near the top globally on X with over 61,000 posts. Allison says the inquiry is about people, documenting injuries and the barriers witnesses face accessing medical care, recognition, and compensation. He argues Canada must examine how it has treated vulnerable citizens and Armed Forces members who felt they had little choice about vaccination. Co-counsel Shawn Buckley describes vaccine injury as 'Canada's dirty little secret' that people fear discussing lest they be labeled anti-vaxxers. Buckley contends that powerful groups including doctors, journalists, and MPs are afraid to speak about vaccine injury, and describes witnesses as suffering 'moral injury' through gaslighting and alienation. Buckley urges anyone with a platform to restream the inquiry, saying nowhere else are vaccine-injured people testifying formally under oath.
MP Dean Allison
0:04 Thank you for joining us here in Ottawa, and to those watching online from across Canada and around the world, thank you for tuning in. 0:12 Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the more than 1,400 vaccine-injured Canadians who have applied to appear as a witness before this inquiry, and to the many others who continue to come forward. 0:23 To each of you, thank you for trusting us with your story. 0:28 We know we cannot hear from everyone during these four days, but that does not mean your experience is any less important. 0:34 We still want to hear your story, and we will continue to collect and document these experiences. 0:40 I also want to thank everyone who testified yesterday and had the courage to share deeply personal and, in many cases, heartbreaking stories. 0:49 And I want to thank Senator Ron Johnson, who joined us yesterday and shared what he has learned through five years of hearings, roundtables, and discussions with experts to help those that are affected. 1:01 I also want to recognize the independent media who are here with us in the room and who have helped give vaccine injured Canadians a platform to tell their stories. 1:11 The level of public interest has been remarkable. 1:14 On X alone, as of this morning, and according to X's numbers, there's been over 61,000 posts. 1:22 In less than 24 hours. 1:23 So well done. 1:24 Thank you very much to the independent media. 1:26 And it's funny, when I got in here, someone told me we're trending globally at number nine. 1:32 But before I could sit down, we were actually up to seven. 1:34 So you guys have already been busy this morning, I can tell you. 1:37 So thank you very much. 1:38 So I think that's remarkable, getting people's stories out. 1:42 that we are trending seven in the world in global news on X. 1:46 So congratulations to all the injured that share, to all the independents that share, to tell people's stories. 1:52 I think that's so important. 1:53 Over the next three days, we'll continue listening to Canadians who report being injured following COVID-19 vaccinations. 1:59 We'll hear what has happened to them, how their lives and families have been affected, and what happened when they sought medical care, answers, recognition, and compensations. 2:10 Yesterday reminded me just how devastating these experiences can be. 2:14 For many, this is simply not about a physical injury. 2:18 It's about a mental and emotional stress that can accompany it. 2:22 It's about pressure placed on spouses, children, and loved ones. 2:27 And for some families, it has meant financial devastation, from losing a job or being unable to work, while at the same time trying to pay for treatments and medical care 2:40 that are just simply not covered by any provincial or federal program. 2:44 I wonder how many people outside of this room actually understand that concept. 2:47 And that's why telling your stories is so important. 2:51 And finally, as a country, I believe that we need to seriously examine not only how vulnerable Canadians have been treated, but also how we've treated some of the men and women who serve our country in uniform. 3:01 Yesterday, we heard Michael's story and heard about the extraordinary brotherhood and sisterhood among members of the Canadian Armed Forces. 3:08 These are proud, 3:10 loyal and selfless Canadians who would give their lives and have volunteered to serve our country. 3:17 To hear accounts from members who felt they had little meaningful choice regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and who say that after experiencing serious health problems, they were left without the support they needed should concern every Canadian. 3:32 Whatever our views on the policies in the pandemic, we should be able to agree on this. 3:36 When someone serves their country and becomes sick or injured, 3:40 We simply do not cast them aside. 3:42 We stand by them. 3:43 Ultimately, that is what this inquiry is about, people. 3:48 It's about hearing from those who have been injured, understanding the challenges that they continue to face and have faced accessing medical care and compassion and compensation, and making sure their experiences are documented and heard. 4:00 For too long, many have felt the need that nobody was listening. 4:04 Well, this week, we are listening. 4:07 And with that, let's begin 4:10 day two of the inquiry. 4:11 I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Shawn Buckley. Shawn Buckley
4:18 Thank you, Chairperson, Dean Allison. 4:22 I'm very honored to be here today. 4:24 Yesterday was an amazing experience for everyone who participated. 4:30 And there were some unexpected things. 4:31 I was in an Uber coming here today. 4:36 And we were listening to a song called The Blessing, which has become a theme for these proceedings. 4:44 And I was thinking about how amazing it is that in September of 2026, in Canada, we are afraid to speak about vaccine entry. 4:58 I spoke yesterday about how it's kind of Canada's dirty little secret. 5:02 We can't talk about it. 5:05 And we're afraid to be labeled as anti-vaxxers. 5:10 I don't know what a vaxxer is, but I do know that I've been taught that the last thing you want to be called in Canada is an anti-vaxxer. 5:20 It is complete derision and it obligates the rest of society to alienate you and to silence you and remove your voice completely. 5:29 And many of our 5:31 witnesses who ironically are not anti-vaxxers, they took the vaccine and were injured, but they're labeled that and they're afraid of being labeled that. 5:39 And so, you know, in 2026, medical doctors are afraid. 5:44 And when you think about that, these are highly trained professionals that have a lot of power in our society. 5:51 I mean, they make life and death decisions every day. 5:54 They're highly respected. 5:56 They have rights and privileges that other members of society don't have. 6:00 They're really the cream of the crop. 6:02 It's so difficult to get into medical school. 6:05 They have to work so hard. 6:06 The commitment is absolutely amazing. 6:09 And yet this privileged class is afraid to speak against vaccines, which if you're acknowledging vaccine injury speaks against vaccines. 6:21 I just want you to think about that as this privileged class is afraid. 6:28 It's not just the rest of us. 6:30 This is one of the most highly esteemed privileged classes in Canada, and they're afraid. 6:35 And when I was speaking about journalists, I mean, journalists, especially for the mainstream media, the power that they wield, they have such a large audience. 6:47 They have a responsibility to the public to report fairly, to report both sides, to actually question 6:59 things that we accept when there's evidence to suggest that we should start questioning. 7:05 And these people compete for these jobs. 7:08 I mean, you're winning a lottery. 7:10 You've demonstrated ability. 7:12 You've just demonstrated competence. 7:14 You've worked in the lower level tiers of media for years and years before you get that privileged position of being a journalist in the mainstream media. 7:26 And yet they are afraid. 7:30 This privileged class of journalists that surely you know inside that they want to report accurately, that they want to report fairly, that they want to be free to question things. 7:42 That's their job. 7:44 And yet they're afraid on this issue of speaking about vaccine injury. 7:52 And then we have our members of parliament. 7:55 And before this inquiry became a possibility, 8:00 my wife Teresa and I were meeting at the request of MP Dean Allison with other MPs because he had asked the question, if I do this, if I agree to hold an inquiry, will I be the only MP at the table? 8:17 I think there's 342 MPs. 8:22 Will I be the only one at the table? 8:23 And so we were meeting with ones that we thought would be philosophically inclined 8:30 to support something like this. 8:33 And what we came away from is that MPs do not feel that it's politically viable for them to sit at this table. 8:42 Now, because this is trending so much worldwide, that may change. 8:46 We may see some MPs show up as these proceedings go on that we didn't anticipate because of the immense public interest. 8:56 But who is more powerful in Canada than members of parliament? 9:00 The power they wield is just incredible. 9:02 I mean, they pass laws literally over life and death. 9:06 They make decisions that affect us every area of our life. 9:11 The power that they wield, the power that's concentrated in the House of Commons is amazing. 9:19 And yet this absolute powerful class is afraid. 9:26 They're afraid. 9:29 to listen to vaccine-injured persons, to speak about vaccine injury publicly, because it's a forbidden topic. 9:38 And so I think it's important for us to frame how powerful these groups are that are forbidden from speaking. 9:45 And it begs the question, how can it be in Canada in 2026 that there is a topic 9:54 that is so forbidden that the most powerful classes in Canada cannot tread there. 10:00 And I can ask rhetorically because there are examples in history where certain topics could not be discussed against the official narrative without consequences. 10:11 And again, it's a rhetorical question. 10:13 Can anyone show me an example where that ended well? 10:17 Regardless of the topic, because there have been topics in other countries throughout history that were forbidden. 10:24 to speak against without consequence. 10:28 And it never ends well. 10:29 And how is it going to end well here? 10:32 We're already a divided nation. 10:36 Michael McNair took the stand yesterday. 10:40 And if you haven't watched him, and we probably haven't posted it online yet, but it'll get there. 10:46 You have to watch it. 10:48 Because it's not even the words that Michael spoke. 10:54 It was his demeanor. 10:56 It was the clear emotion. 10:57 It was the clear struggle that he was experiencing as he was on the stand, as he was testifying under oath, sharing his story. 11:09 He showed us what moral distress is, what moral injury is. 11:16 Some of these witnesses may not use those terms. 11:20 But when they talk about the most difficult, the difficult part of their journey being not hurt, being gaslit by the medical community, being basically disenfranchised as citizens, even within their own families, they're really describing moral injury. 11:39 Because the reality is, is we're meant to be part of a tribe. 11:43 We're meant to be part of a family unit. 11:45 We're meant to be part of social circles. 11:47 We're meant to be part of professional circles. 11:49 But if you become vaccine-injured, even though you're not an anti-vaxxer, whatever that is, because you're taking vaccines, you've just happened to be injured. 12:00 But because we can't even have the discussion, you are excluded automatically, in many cases, from family members. 12:10 And there's probably not a witness that we're calling that has not had family alienation because of their journey. 12:17 You are alienated professionally. 12:21 You are alienated from your social circles. 12:25 You are often deplatformed on social media channels, as our first witness has been. 12:34 All because you were injured. 12:36 You become disenfranchised. 12:39 And so many of these people will be speaking about their physical injuries. 12:45 But I think that it's important for us to understand that there has been a moral injury 12:51 There has been a moral injustice. 12:54 And it's why this inquiring and listening to these voices are so important. 12:59 And so I, you know, I echo what Mr. Allison has said. 13:04 Thanks to the media, the alternative media for getting this out. 13:08 Because these telling the stories matters because we're listening to the stories. 13:13 And if the mainstream media still feels forbidden from doing so, 13:18 then we still need to get the word out. 13:20 And so actually call on every, anyone who's got any type of platform anywhere in the world, go to allisoninquiry.com and restream us. 13:31 Let's make this a worldwide phenomena because nowhere else in the world are vaccine injured persons being called to testify in a formal setting under oath. 13:42 And we need to get the word out. 13:44 And so, um, 13:49 Yeah, absolutely. MP Dean Allison
13:51 I also just want to add one more thing in the context of what Sean has just mentioned. 13:55 I've had a number of colleagues here yesterday and today. 13:57 I want to thank Mr. Dawson, who early on, when I talked to him about it, said he was in, and he was in for three days, and he's here. 14:03 He's here every day. 14:04 He's one guy I count on. 14:06 I want to thank MP Mahal for also coming as well, who indicated that was the case. 14:09 So to my colleagues, I appreciate it very much. 14:12 There'll be more that come over the next couple of days. 14:15 As I said, Mike was here. 14:16 We had a few others yesterday. 14:18 in the context of Sean's marks. 14:20 So thanks.