Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP Derek Sloan made national headlines Thursday after it was noted he sponsored a petition that calls into question the safety of future COVID-19 vaccines.
The petition, initiated by Gisele Baribeau of Dorchester, Ont. reads as follows:
Whereas:
- The Government of Canada does not conduct independent safety testing of vaccines;
- COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are being granted legal immunity and will not be legally or financially liable for injuries or deaths caused by their products;
- COVID-19 vaccine development is being rushed;
- Standard, prudent safety protocols, such as prior animal testing, are being waived;
- COVID-19 vaccines currently under development are not tested against an inert placebo and are utilizing never before implemented technology that injects manufactured genetic materials;
- Long-term adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccination may not be known for many years;
- No coronavirus vaccine has ever been approved because of serious adverse effects, including death to test animals, due to pathogenic priming;
- COVID-19 vaccines are not designed to prevent infection or transmission; and
- Bypassing proper safety protocols means COVID-19 vaccination is effectively human experimentation.
We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to
1- Preserve and protect our ethical, legal, and moral right to informed consent;
2- Legally ensure COVID19 vaccines are voluntary. This choice must be without disadvantage or prejudice;
3- Require that vaccine safety studies comply with standards equal to or exceeding other pharmaceutical products;
4- Create an independent committee with a broad range of stakeholder representatives, including citizen vaccine safety advocates;
5- Ensure no committee member has intellectual or financial conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical or medical industry;
6- Grant this committee the power to independently review applications for approval of all vaccines, including COVID-19; and
7- Develop a vaccine injury compensation program whereby vaccine manufacturers are responsible for paying all costs related to the compensation for those injured or killed by their vaccines.
In a video posted to his social media account, Sloan explained why he sponsored the petition, known as e-2961 (Human diseases).
“A petition is something you can do online, there’s a website for this,” said Sloan. “You can write a question on any issue, and if you get an MP to sponsor it, then the government has to respond to you in 45 sitting days. MPs have done this for decades. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the MP’s idea or that they agree with every aspect of it or that they disagree. It’s a great way for Canadian citizens to ask direct questions of their government.”
Sloan went on to note the petition was written in the words of the petitioner with no input from him.
“If MPs always agreed with every aspect of a petition-many would never be sponsored,” Sloan added on social media. “As to the specifics of the petition, like all of us I support informed consent, and transparent and reasonable safety protocols. The specifics and wording are the petitioner’s own, but I support her right to raise her concerns.”
Among those to speak out against Sloan’s sponsorship of the petition was NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
“That’s an embarrassment, and I hope that that type of thinking is rejected soundly and that we encourage people to follow the best medical advice and the experts’ advice around getting vaccinated,” Singh was quoted as saying according to Global.
Speaking to CTV News, Conservative Health Critic Michelle Rempel Garner addressed the petition.
“Canadians need this vaccine and I encourage every Canadian, when the government finally comes up with a plan to deliver it, to get it,” she said. “We live in a G7 country and we have some of the best reviewed processes possible for a vaccine. To suggest that our party stands for anything other is ridiculous because we’ve been the party that has been pushing the government to get the vaccine for Canadians.”
As of Friday morning the e-petition, which can be found at https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2961, has 25,518 signatures of support.