James Freeland Sworn: Portrait of His Mother Donna¶
Day 2 · 5:39:20 · Shawn Buckley · James Freeland · Dean Allison
- 📖 Counsel swears James Freeland and establishes he will testify about his mother, Donna Lee Stevens Freeland—“Ma”—who did not have COVID.
- 💖 James describes her as a loving single mother who raised him in social housing, kept him from becoming a “statistic,” and was the kind, joyful life of every room.
- 📸 Photos show her smiling with her dog Dudley and visiting Edmonton when James’s son was 11 days old; type 2 diabetes was well managed with no real limits on her life.
Introduction of the next witness and who his mother was before July 2021.
← Q&A: What Legislation Would Force Clinicians to Report Injuries? | Pressure to Vaccinate the Immunocompromised Son and Mother →
Transcript¶
Shawn Buckley · 5:39:20
So our next witness is James Freeland. James, can you take the Bible in your right hand there? James, do you swear— I'm sorry, James Freeland, do you swear to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God? Actually, again, yes, I do. And you can leave that on. So, um, Your mother's name is Donna Lee Stevens Freeland, correct? Um, but you refer to her as my ma.
James Freeland · 5:40:00
My ma, yeah.
Shawn Buckley · 5:40:01
Um, and your mother did not have COVID. You're going to describe something that happened, but she was being tested. This is, this is not COVID. Can you tell us about your mother, who I will call Donna Lee Stevens, or Donna, let's call her Donna, and you can call her Ma.
James Freeland · 5:40:18
I'll call her Ma. Yeah, so, but she was my Ma. My mom was a single mother, raised me right, and she did not have COVID. She was a law-abiding citizen, always listened to the government, you know, listened to everything that had to be done right, and, you know, did everything by the books. And when this pandemic came into effect, You know, she was really into doing what was told to be done. And when it got down to it and, you know, it was really down to the nitty-gritty and it was all about getting the shots and, you know, it was all over the news about you have to get it done to protect everybody. And I myself have— I have multiple sclerosis, so I'm immune compromised and when they started talking about that, and, you know, you got to protect people that are immune compromised. She was really scared to, uh, you know, affect me in any kind of way. Uh, so she was talking about getting it. Well, I was getting it first.
Shawn Buckley · 5:41:19
Before we go there, I just want you to describe who she was a little more.
Dean Allison · 5:41:23
Who she was?
Speaker Q · 5:41:23
Yeah, because as a person.
Shawn Buckley · 5:41:25
Yeah, because when you and I were talking, um, you had some really beautiful things to say about her.
Speaker H · 5:41:30
Oh my God.
James Freeland · 5:41:30
And I'm hoping that you can help us to understand My mom was an amazing woman. Uh, again, like I said, she was a single mother and she raised me, um, with love, uh, passion, compassion. And, um, you know, she worked all her life and, uh, she put her everything into me. We— I grew up in, uh, what some people would call a ghetto, I guess you would call it, a separate housing type deal. And she did everything that she could do to ensure that I didn't become a statistic or become something that, you know, unsavoury character, I guess you can call it. And it worked. I became a hardworking person. And, you know, she did everything she could do in life to make me a happy person, to make our lives happy. And, you know, She, uh, she would just— was an amazing person. She was a person that made everybody happy around her.
James Freeland · 5:42:32
She was the life of the party, made everybody smile. And, uh, you know, there wasn't anything that she couldn't do. She was my mentor. She was my, uh— she taught me how to love. She taught me how to, you know, be fearful— be not fearful. And, you know, taught me how to be tough and, and, you know, taught me all the things how to get through life.
Shawn Buckley · 5:42:56
You also described her to me as kind and loving.
James Freeland · 5:43:00
Oh, she was extremely kind and loving.
Shawn Buckley · 5:43:02
Extremely. And you also described to me that before what you're going to describe, you know, she had had type 2 diabetes, but she was very well managed. Yes. She had really no limitations on her life.
James Freeland · 5:43:16
No, she had no limitations.
Shawn Buckley · 5:43:17
Okay, um, can we pull up— we just— you sent a couple of photos that I'd like to show just so that people can see who your mom is. So she's the one there holding the puppy?
James Freeland · 5:43:27
Holding the puppy. That's my mom, Donna. Yeah, she's always got a smile on her face and usually always has her friends with her. They're smiling with her. Um, yeah, and that's her dog Dudley.
Shawn Buckley · 5:43:40
She, uh, she always had a fond fascination with her puppy.
James Freeland · 5:43:42
I was her only child, so When she did have her dog, that was her other child.
Dean Allison · 5:43:48
So—.
Shawn Buckley · 5:43:49
Right. Well, I hope there wasn't too much competition.
James Freeland · 5:43:52
Ah, not at all.
Dean Allison · 5:43:53
No.
Shawn Buckley · 5:43:53
I got a bit cute every once in a while. But this was the important picture because she's laughing and smiling and those around her, and that was a characteristic of her, wasn't it? Absolutely. Just a real joy and happiness.
James Freeland · 5:44:04
Absolutely. Every day.
Shawn Buckley · 5:44:07
And can we go to the next picture? And this is— this is you and her.
James Freeland · 5:44:11
That's me and her. That's when my son was born. She came— I lived in Edmonton. She came from all the way from Ontario to Edmonton. That's my son was 11 days old. Yeah, she came out there and saved up all her money. She was a hardworking cashier and she came out there to visit me to introduce— so I can introduce her to my son, grandson.
Shawn Buckley · 5:44:37
So, um, and just as far as— I'll just introduce you. Well, no, let's just go into her, her experience. Tell us, tell us what happened.