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Alberta

New court application alleges Dr. Deena Hinshaw withheld information

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News release from The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

CALGARY: The Justice Centre says a court application has been filed to compel Dr. Deena Hinshaw to re-attend court for further cross-examination in the constitutional challenge to her lockdown orders. The application alleges that Dr. Hinshaw knowingly withheld evidence from the court regarding her knowledge of the dangers and harms of forced masking on children. The Application is brought jointly by Leighton Grey, Q.C. – on behalf of the Justice Centre for Heights Baptist Church, Northside Baptist Church, Erin Blacklaws, and Tory Tanner – and Jeffrey Rath, counsel for Rebecca Ingram. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday, August 26, 2022, to reopen the case based on new evidence.

The application also requests that the Court require Dr. Hinshaw to produce all of her recommendations to the Kenney government related to her own Covid lockdown orders, as well as to require Dr. Hinshaw to answer all questions which were previously objected to by counsel for the government of Alberta on the basis of Cabinet Confidentiality.

Dr. Hinshaw was cross-examined in the court challenge to her health orders on April 4-7, 2022. Since her cross-examination, in July 2022, documents which Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet had previously claimed confidentiality over were ordered released to the public by the Honourable Justice Dunlop, on July 13, 2022, in a separate, unrelated court case CM vs. Alberta. The now-public documents contain a memo generated by the Premier’s office, sent to both Premier Kenney and Dr. Hinshaw, regarding lack of evidence to justify forced public masking and the dangers to children from such orders. The Alberta government failed to disclose the existence of these documents in the Ingram case.

According to the Application, the Alberta government-generated memo states that:

  • There is insufficient direct evidence of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing transmission of Covid in educational settings;
  • That there are harmful effects of mask wearing on children; and

That masks can:

  • Disrupt learning;
  • Interfere with children’s social development;
  • Interfere with children’s emotional development;
  • Interfere with children’s speech development;
  • Impair verbal and non-verbal communication;
  • Impair emotional signalling; and
  • Impair facial recognition.

During her cross-examination in April, Dr. Hinshaw was specifically asked whether she was aware of any evidence of harms to elementary school children from being compelled to wear masks. Dr. Hinshaw answered this question before the court in April in the negative. The Application contends Dr. Hinshaw’s answers to this line of questions were false, and that she failed to disclose her knowledge of the harms to children from forced masking.

The application asserts that it is clear that there were a significant number of studies in Dr. Hinshaw’s possession or control which in fact did show evidence of harm to children from forced masking. Dr. Hinshaw’s health orders required forced public masking, including masking of elementary-aged children in all schools.

The government filed a written brief on August 12, 2022, in the CM Case. Contrary to their position and evidence in the Justice Centre case, in that brief, they argue that the CMOH orders were essentially policy decisions and not medical ones. At paragraph 81 they state: “the CMOH, the Public Health Act s. 29 and all resulting orders were cogs in a much larger machine.”

“The Canadian provinces and the country as a whole have been under authoritarian-style rule by health officials for over two years”, states Marty Moore, lawyer at the Justice Centre. “The ongoing scrutiny by the courts of the constitutionality of health official’s unprecedented power remains of the utmost importance to Canadians.”

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Alberta

Alberta mother accuses health agency of trying to vaccinate son against her wishes

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

 

Alberta Health Services has been accused of attempting to vaccinate a child in school against his parent’s wishes.  

On November 6, Alberta Health Services staffers visited Edmonton Hardisty School where they reportedly attempted to vaccinate a grade 6 student despite his parents signing a form stating that they did not wish for him to receive the vaccines.  

 

“It is clear they do not prioritize parental rights, and in not doing so, they traumatize students,” the boy’s mother Kerri Findling told the Counter Signal. 

During the school visit, AHS planned to vaccinate sixth graders with the HPV and hepatitis B vaccines. Notably, both HPV and hepatitis B are vaccines given to prevent diseases normally transmitted sexually.  

Among the chief concerns about the HPV vaccine has been the high number of adverse reactions reported after taking it, including a case where a 16 year-old Australian girl was made infertile due to the vaccine.  

Additionally, in 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration received reports of 28 deaths associated with the HPV vaccine. Among the 6,723 adverse reactions reported that year, 142 were deemed life-threatening and 1,061 were considered serious.   

Children whose parents had written “refused” on their forms were supposed to return to the classroom when the rest of the class was called into the vaccination area.  

However, in this case, Findling alleged that AHS staffers told her son to proceed to the vaccination area, despite seeing that she had written “refused” on his form. 

When the boy asked if he could return to the classroom, as he was certain his parents did not intend for him to receive the shots, the staff reportedly said “no.” However, he chose to return to the classroom anyway.    

Following his parents’ arrival at the school, AHS claimed the incident was a misunderstanding due to a “new hire,” attesting that the mistake would have been caught before their son was vaccinated.   

“If a student leaves the vaccination center without receiving the vaccine, it should be up to the parents to get the vaccine at a different time, if they so desire, not the school to enforce vaccination on behalf of AHS,” Findling declared.  

Findling’s story comes just a few months after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised a new Bill of Rights affirming “God-given” parental authority over children. 

A draft version of a forthcoming Alberta Bill of Rights provided to LifeSiteNews includes a provision beefing up parental rights, declaring the “freedom of parents to make informed decisions concerning the health, education, welfare and upbringing of their children.” 

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Alberta

Alberta’s fiscal update projects budget surplus, but fiscal fortunes could quickly turn

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

According to the recent mid-year update tabled Thursday, the Smith government projects a $4.6 billion surplus in 2024/25, up from the $2.9 billion surplus projected just a few months ago. Despite the good news, Premier Smith must reduce spending to avoid budget deficits.

The fiscal update projects resource revenue of $20.3 billion in 2024/25. Today’s relatively high—but very volatile—resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is helping finance today’s spending and maintain a balanced budget. But it will not last forever.

For perspective, in just the last decade the Alberta government’s annual resource revenue has been as low as $2.8 billion (2015/16) and as high as $25.2 billion (2022/23).

And while the resource revenue rollercoaster is currently in Alberta’s favor, Finance Minister Nate Horner acknowledges that “risks are on the rise” as oil prices have dropped considerably and forecasters are projecting downward pressure on prices—all of which impacts resource revenue.

In fact, the government’s own estimates show a $1 change in oil prices results in an estimated $630 million revenue swing. So while the Smith government plans to maintain a surplus in 2024/25, a small change in oil prices could quickly plunge Alberta back into deficit. Premier Smith has warned that her government may fall into a budget deficit this fiscal year.

This should come as no surprise. Alberta’s been on the resource revenue rollercoaster for decades. Successive governments have increased spending during the good times of high resource revenue, but failed to rein in spending when resource revenues fell.

Previous research has shown that, in Alberta, a $1 increase in resource revenue is associated with an estimated 56-cent increase in program spending the following fiscal year (on a per-person, inflation-adjusted basis). However, a decline in resource revenue is not similarly associated with a reduction in program spending. This pattern has led to historically high levels of government spending—and budget deficits—even in more recent years.

Consider this: If this fiscal year the Smith government received an average level of resource revenue (based on levels over the last 10 years), it would receive approximately $13,000 per Albertan. Yet the government plans to spend nearly $15,000 per Albertan this fiscal year (after adjusting for inflation). That’s a huge gap of roughly $2,000—and it means the government is continuing to take big risks with the provincial budget.

Of course, if the government falls back into deficit there are implications for everyday Albertans.

When the government runs a deficit, it accumulates debt, which Albertans must pay to service. In 2024/25, the government’s debt interest payments will cost each Albertan nearly $650. That’s largely because, despite running surpluses over the last few years, Albertans are still paying for debt accumulated during the most recent string of deficits from 2008/09 to 2020/21 (excluding 2014/15), which only ended when the government enjoyed an unexpected windfall in resource revenue in 2021/22.

According to Thursday’s mid-year fiscal update, Alberta’s finances continue to be at risk. To avoid deficits, the Smith government should meaningfully reduce spending so that it’s aligned with more reliable, stable levels of revenue.

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