Q&A: Mandates, Ostracism and Liberating Support from Colleagues¶
Day 3 · 8:28:04 · Cst. Helen Grus · Dean Allison · Shawn Buckley
- 🏠 Unvaccinated members were sent home without pay on 1 February 2022, drawing CBC coverage and widespread job jeopardy.
- 💬 Many officers and civilians privately thanked her, creating a support network similar to React 19.
- 🕊️ She still faces selective blowback yet defends everyone’s freedom to hold differing opinions.
Impact of the OPS mandate and the mixed personal aftermath for Grus.
← Q&A: September 2021 Email, Anti-Vaxxer Label and COVID Gag Order | Q&A: Healing Division Through Inquiry, Forgiveness and Open Talk →
Transcript¶
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:28:04
So the, the, the email itself, no, that came out before the mandates. The mandates.
Dean Allison · 8:28:09
Your email?
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:28:10
Yes, my email. I, I sent that out a month— it was at the end of October 2021 that Ottawa Police Service put in a mandate then that we all members had to be double vaccinated or they would be sent home by the 1st of February 2022.
Dean Allison · 8:28:30
So you painted a target on yourself?
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:28:33
I did.
Shawn Buckley · 8:28:34
That's how you How did you feel?
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:28:35
I actually, I found it liberating because so many officers and members reached out that essentially ended up just with the, like the React 19. We found each other that we're not alone. And it actually brought me hope that there are other members in our service that see it exactly that, you know, as I did.
Dean Allison · 8:29:02
Did anybody else in your service, um, were they disciplined for not taking the vaccine, uh, or, or lose their jobs as a result?
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:29:13
So members were— on February 1st, 2022, Ottawa Police Service members were sent home on leave without pay. That was actually the CBC reported on it, on that. Um, so yes, there were implications.
Dean Allison · 8:29:26
And what's surprising, I think, uh, as MPs, many of our offices, if not all of our offices, would have had complaints from the public who themselves are experiencing the same sort of friction with their employer, where they're conflicted between, you know, you have to get the vaccinations or you are suspended.
Shawn Buckley · 8:29:47
And if you're suspended for next time, you're going to lose your job, basically.
Dean Allison · 8:29:51
And I mean, I know I received many of them, you know, I have a military base nearby, you know, federal, that they, they were—.
Shawn Buckley · 8:29:57
Many of those people were struggling. Some of them lost their jobs as a result, and others—.
Dean Allison · 8:30:02
So, um, you know, I, I am, you know, I am perplexed that, you know, as I think Mr. Buckley alluded to previously, another witness, that the reach of these mandates and what was going on had far-reaching impacts and on multiple industries and services and, and, you know, public perception of the—.
Shawn Buckley · 8:30:28
Have you—.
Dean Allison · 8:30:29
Are you receiving any sort of blowback from this other than the recent decision, but from other members of the service?
Cst. Helen Grus · 8:30:39
Again, there's a select number of members that don't agree. With my, with me even pursuing for pleading not guilty and going through the tribunal process and the appeal that's, that's going to be moving forward, I pray. But again, it's a free country. I believe in freedom. We have a freedom to have that opinion. At least I pray we do still. And for me, I think from day 1, what was most important for me, I wanted that conversation and communication. That was all shut down. And it was definitely shut down when people were sent home on leave without pay because we were just, we were ostracized. There's a large population that were simply ostracized. And it still happens to this day, unfortunately.