COVID-19 Report #3: Toronto District School Board

My Letter and Presentation Against COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Students

Tomorrow (Monday), I will be submitting my request to speak to the Toronto District School Board at their Governance and Policy Committee meeting. The meeting is set for Wednesday January 12, 2022, and this is when the TDSB will vote on a vaccine mandate for their students.

I am applying to speak as an Independent Community Advocate, while I anticipate my colleagues at at least two other Canadian organizations will join me for presentations of their own. If our applications are accepted, we will each have five minutes to make our case. I’m thinking there will likely be one medically-focused presentation, and possibly a legal one. With any luck, we may even have a brave elected official stand up and put his or her body in front of the barrage of arrows.

For my part, I will be presenting a 30,000-foot view of the Conflicts of Interest in the public health response to COVID-19 in Toronto and the wider province of Ontario, particularly as far as the rollout of the vaccine products is concerned.

Here’s the recorded livestream of the January 4th meeting, where they prepare for this upcoming vaccine mandate discussion:

Let’s cut to the chase - we’ve lost so many people already. The genocide we’ve been fighting so hard to stop began two years ago. But there are still so many kids out there we can still help. No child needs to be injured by these shots, and they all deserve the life of freedom and health that most of us were graced with.

I’ve said before that I will die on this hill. As far as the kids are concerned, this hill is an even steeper one, on which I am even more resolute that I will die. Or hopefully live to celebrate and mourn together on the other side.

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COVID-19 Report #3: Toronto District School Board

Esteemed members of the Toronto District School Board,

Thank you for inviting me to address you today. It is my understanding that you are meeting to discuss instituting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students. I am here to bolster what is now an international call to halt such requirements, based on the irrefutable clinical data and real-world evidence demonstrating that these products have done, and will continue to do, far more harm than good for children.¹ ² ³

I’m here to focus on a vital aspect of your decision making: analysis of Conflicts of Interest.

To properly guide health policy (such as with vaccine mandates, testing policies, school closures, etc), all reasonable possible options need to be fairly analyzed and presented to our elected officials to make the best educated decision. The experts preparing this information for our government decision makers need to be objective, data-driven, evidence-based and not partial to any particular company or product.

Why, then, do we have medical professionals with strong financial ties to pharmaceutical interests and deeply conflicted lobbyists dictating what organizations, such as this very school board, must do for their own health and safety?

By now, we’ve all heard ad nauseam from the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. They are the supposedly “independent” body that self-assembled to provide unbiased guidance to the local and provincial governments to best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Ontario.⁴ Unfortunately, they are far from unbiased or independent.

To list just a few examples:

1. Vinita Dubey. She sits on the Behavioural Science Working Group, whose members were selected "based on their specific expertise in behaviour change, spanning behavioural medicine, health, clinical and social psychology, behavioural economics, and implementation science. Public Health leaders joining the group were invited based on their expertise in promoting health-protective behaviours and vaccination.”⁵

   Yes, indeed, this was the job description from the very beginning - behaviour change to increase vaccine uptake, without much care for other health-protective behaviours at all. Her published studies across her career are almost entirely focused on pro-vaccination messaging,⁶ ⁷ including work with the Canadian Immunization Research Network, which is funded by Pfizer, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline⁸ - three of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world, and all of whom have a financial interest in COVID-19 vaccinations.⁹ ¹⁰

   Another paper she co-authored about managing fear of needles was endorsed by the Canadian Public Health Association,¹¹ a non-governmental agency funded by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, VBI Vaccines, and various others.¹² With this in mind, most would be shocked to learn that Dubey also sits on the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which is the body responsible for considering the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 injections in Canada and approving them for our children.¹³ She is also employed by both Toronto Public Health as second-in-command to Eileen De Villa,¹⁴ and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, which hosts and pays for certain members of the Advisory Table.¹⁵

2. For her part, Dubey’s boss Eileen De Villa is herself not free of conflict. She is married to Richard Choi,¹⁶ who receives speaking and consulting fees from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sanofi,¹⁷ and has spoken at events funded by AstraZeneca and Janssen.¹⁸

3. Allison McGeer is another member of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.¹⁹ She also sits on the Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee within Public Health Ontario, which advises on current and future vaccine programs.²⁰ Perhaps this would be less of a problem if McGeer and her employers at Mount Sinai Hospital weren’t themselves funded by Pfizer, as is clearly stated on her online biography.²¹

   In her disclosures from studies related to vaccines for influenza and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 product, McGeer reports receiving a combination of “grants and personal fees” from Sanofi, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Seqirus,²² with further funding from Pfizer, Medicago, Moderna, Janssen and AstraZeneca.²³ Lastly, on a COVID-19 study related to the vaccines’ effect on protecting against new variants of COVID-19, she reveals she is a paid advisor for Pfizer and Moderna.²⁴

I will finish by briefly mentioning that Premier Doug Ford’s former and current campaign manager Kory Teneycke runs a lobbying firm called Rubicon Strategy,²⁵ who was hired by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen and a long list of other pharmaceutical companies to lobby the Ford government to influence the COVID-19 response in their favour, including vaccine regulation.²⁶ ²⁷ This lobbying is ongoing to this day.

In closing, my intention is to demonstrate to you that there is a fundamental problem at the source of the COVID-19 guidance in Toronto and Ontario as a whole, and this demands that this school board halts its decision to force the children under your protection to take a pharmaceutical product to even attend school. This is not anything like previous vaccines, and undertaking such a policy based on highly conflicted guidance will lead to injury and yes, even deaths, that far exceed any minimal risk posed to them by COVID-19. 

All reference materials including the full list of citations are included and have been entered onto the record of this committee.

Thank you,

Liam Sturgess

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COVID-19 Report #3: Toronto District School Board

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1. Pelech, S. (2022, January 6). Petition e-3696 - Petitions. House of Commons; Parliament of Canada. https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3696

2. Wilkinson, D., Finlay, I., Pollard, A. J., Forsberg, L., & Skelton, A. (2021). Should we delay covid-19 vaccination in children? BMJ, 374, n1687. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1687

3. Kovess, C., Hibberd, J., Kathrada, N., McLeod, R. J., Vicente, V., Lawrie, T., Trozzi, M., Mogg, M. H., Alexander, M., Cox, Z., Becker, S., McKenna, K., & Mohamed, S. P. (2021, November 29). WCH Calls for an Immediate Stop to Covid-19 “Vaccines.” World Council for Health. https://worldcouncilforhealth.org/campaign/covid-19-vaccine-cease-and-desist/#full

4. About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/

5. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. (2021, April 13). About Us. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#dubey-vinita

6. Dubé, E., Wilson, S., Gagnon, D., Deeks, S. L., & Dubey, V. (2020). “It takes time to build trust”: a survey Ontario’s school-based HPV immunization program ten years post-implementation. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2020.1775456 

7. Wilson, S. E., Murray, J., Bunko, A., Johnson, S., Buchan, S. A., Crowcroft, N. S., Dubey, V., Loh, L. C., MacLeod, M., Taylor, C., & Deeks, S. L. (2019). Characteristics of immunized and un-immunized students, including non-medical exemptions, in Ontario, Canada: 2016–2017 school year. Vaccine, 37(23), 3123–3132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.04.033 

8. Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN). (2018, February 26). Partners | CIRN. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://cirnetwork.ca/about-us/partners/ 

9. Guendoul, S., & Bain, S. (2021, December 15). Sanofi and GSK announce positive preliminary booster data for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate and continuation of Phase 3 trial per independent Monitoring Board recommendation. Sanofi. https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-12-15-07-30-00-2352255

10. Isidore, C. (2021, November 2). Pfizer revenue and profits soar on its Covid vaccine business. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/02/business/pfizer-earnings/index.html 

11. McMurtry, C. M., Taddio, A., Noel, M., Antony, M. M., Chambers, C. T., Asmundson, G. J., Pillai Riddell, R., Shah, V., MacDonald, N. E., Rogers, J., Bucci, L. M., Mousmanis, P., Lang, E., Halperin, S., Bowles, S., Halpert, C., Ipp, M., Rieder, M. J., Robson, K., Uleryk, E., … Scott, J. (2016). Exposure-based Interventions for the management of individuals with high levels of needle fear across the lifespan: a clinical practice guideline and call for further research. Cognitive behaviour therapy, 45(3), 217–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2016.1157204 

12. Canadian Public Health Association. Corporate partners. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.cpha.ca/corporate-partners 

13. National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). (2021, October). Advisory Committee Statement (ACS): Recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines. Public Health Agency of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/immunization/national-advisory-committee-on-immunization-naci/recommendations-use-covid-19-vaccines/recommendations-use-covid-19-vaccines-en.pdf 

14. Dubey, V. (2021). Building Trust and Confidence. City of Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/9073-Comm-AbassadorsJune-2021.pdf

15. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. (2016, September 26). Dubey, Vinita. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/dubey-vinita/

16. Gardos, A. (2020, May 19). Eileen de Villa is not freaking out. Toronto Life. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://torontolife.com/city/eileen-de-villa-toronto-medical-officer-of-health-covid-response/

17. Verma, S., MD, PhD, FRCSC, FAHA, Choi, R., MD, FRCPC, Bucci, C., PharmD, & Gupta, A., MD, FRCPC. (2020, June 12). Navigating Vascular Protective Strategies in HighRisk Patients During the Current Era: Practical Applications [Slides]. CardioVascUpdate.ca. https://cardiovascupdate.ca/files/2020/CV%20Update%20Symposium-Presentation.pdf 

18. EOCI Pharmacomm. Cardiovascular Update 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://inevent.com/en/EOCIPharmacomm-1607454350/CardiovascularUpdate2021-1615427427/hotsite.php#sponsors 

19. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. (2021, April 13). About Us. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#mcgeer-allison

20. Public Health Ontario. Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac 

21. Mount Sinai Hospital Department of Microbiology. Staff Directory: Allison McGeer. Mount Sinai Hospital. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://eportal.mountsinai.ca/Microbiology//staff/amcgeer.shtml

22. Chung, H., Buchan, S. A., Campigotto, A., Campitelli, M. A., Crowcroft, N. S., Dubey, V., Gubbay, J. B., Karnauchow, T., Katz, K., McGeer, A. J., McNally, J. D., Mubareka, S., Murti, M., Richardson, D. C., Rosella, L. C., Schwartz, K. L., Smieja, M., Zahariadis, G., & Kwong, J. C. (2020). Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against All-Cause Mortality Following Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza in Older Adults, 2010–2011 to 2015–2016 Seasons in Ontario, Canada. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 73(5), e1191–e1199. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1862 

23. Yau, K., Abe, K. T., Naimark, D., Oliver, M. J., Perl, J., Leis, J. A., Bolotin, S., Tran, V., Mullin, S. I., Shadowitz, E., Gonzalez, A., Sukovic, T., Garnham-Takaoka, J., de Launay, K. Q., Takaoka, A., Straus, S. E., McGeer, A. J., Chan, C. T., Colwill, K., . . . Hladunewich, M. A. (2021). Evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response to the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis. JAMA Network Open, 4(9), e2123622. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.23622

24. Abe, K. T., Hu, Q., Mozafarihashjin, M., Samson, R., Manguiat, K., Robinson, A., Rathod, B., Hardy, W. R., Wang, J. H., Iskilova, M., Pasculescu, A., Fazel-Zarandi, M., Li, A., Paterson, A., Chao, G., Green, K., Gilbert, L., Barati, S., Haq, N., . . . Gingras, A. C. (2021). Neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in vaccinated Ontario long-term care home residents and workers. medRxiv. Published. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261721 

25. Maher, S. (2019, January 30). For access to the Ford government, two names matter most. Macleans. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.macleans.ca/politics/for-access-to-the-ford-government-two-names-matter-most/ 

26. Registration No. CL4899-20200917025456 with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner

27. Registration No. CL4899-20200917025455 with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner