The first day opened with a brief introduction by the moderator, Trish Wood (ex-CBC), who spoke of the need for an independent non-governmental inquiry into the many different harms done by the Covid response in Canada. She clarified that this was not a court of law, nor a legal hearing. Three panelists were constant throughout the event, asking questions of invited speakers, and the panelists included David Ross, the president of the CCCA, Preston Manning, former Leader of the Opposition in federal parliament from 1997 to 2000, and Dr. Susan Natsheh, MD. What follows are the sessions for the first day, in chronological order.
Jaiden Weinrauch, from Saskatchewan, who studied at St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, had just completed her four-year Bachelor’s degree. She was barred from sports, from practice, from spectating—and she spoke of how university policies divided friends. Isolation became the dominant experience. She was prohibited from attending pre-graduation ceremonies. She was blocked from flying home for Christmas, given the federal government’s travel ban against the “unvaccinated,” and she could thus not attend her grandfather’s funeral. On campus, she had to be tested every 72 hours just to attend class, a burdensome obligation. Testing was done on campus, in the middle of a building where everyone could see her walking in.
Very few of her friends and teammates were “unvaccinated”. She pointed to the usually hostile/aggressive wording of communications from the university. She was effectively treated as a “freak”.
She felt blame from teammates, given the StFX Athletics Dept. pushed “vaccination” and stated that those not following were hurting others.
How has her experience changed her? She is leaving StFX with a bitter taste.
Hayley Weinrauch, a student at McEwan in Edmonton, was told to be “vaccinated” by January (2022) or be prevented from taking her classes and completing her degree. Her own doctor yelled at her to get the shot because of her heart condition. He had also previously urged her to get an abortion, because of the same condition. Counter to his pressue, she went ahead and had the baby, who is the joy of her life. Hayley was clearly distraught in recounting these events, traumatized, and she burst into tears in relating these experiences. Constant battles with the school over her decision ensued from her decision not to get the shot. She lost a lot of faith in this society. Extra burdens were caused by restrictions where childcare were involved.
Fellow students spoke of the unvaxxed as inferior people. She was isolated until she found others in her situation online.
Kayla Bishop a student in Ontario, is “vaccine”-injured. She had done research, and found that her risk-benefit analysis did not warrant the shot, and it did pose dangers—she was young, healthy, with no comorbidities. She felt pressured by her university, and the student loan program, to proceed to get the shots. After her second dose, she suffered chest pains. She was admitted to hospital, and there it was discovered that she had developed tachycardia. Less able to focus due to her new condition, and less able to perform in theatre classes given the difficulty of breathing with a mask in class, her studies began to suffer. As a theatre student, her work is physically demanding, so she does not even know if she can do what she went to school to do.
What could Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) have done differently? It could have allowed an option for testing to attend school. Universities should not be the ones to instruct people on their medical decisions, Kayla said. Universities mandated, with no discussion with affected students. University administrators did not discuss risks.
She still has chest pains that come and go, and she is far from being in normal health.
