Chair Allison Opens Final Day of the Inquiry

Day 4 · 0:01:20 · Dean Allison · Glen Motz

• 🎤 Dean Allison welcomes viewers to day four and restates the inquiry’s commitment to listen to vaccine-injured Canadians.
• 💔 He recaps harrowing prior testimony from a fire chief, a late parliamentarian’s family, a WHO employee, young myocarditis patients, and an Ottawa officer.
• 🤝 Allison stresses compassion over dismissal and notes more than 1,400 people applied while only a fraction could be heard.

Opening remarks frame the final day around listening, documentation, and unfinished questions on safety signals.

Motz on the Emotional Toll and Community of the Injured →

Transcript

Dean Allison · 0:01:20

Good morning and welcome to the fourth and final day of the Allison Inquiry LIVE. To everyone joining us here in Ottawa and to those watching us online across Canada and around the world, thank you for being with us. Over the past three days, we've heard testimony that has been difficult, emotional, and at times deeply troubling. We began this inquiry with one simple commitment: to listen, to listen to Canadians who were injured following the COVID-19 vaccine, to give them an opportunity to tell their stories, to document what happened to them, to hear their challenges accessing the Vaccine Injury Support Program. Yesterday, once again, we heard why that commitment matters. We heard from a former fire chief, someone who had spent her career serving and protecting others. She described from going to being healthy and active to struggling to walk. We heard the story of a former parliamentarian, Safar, a husband, a father who was taken far too soon, leaving behind his wife and young children.

Dean Allison · 0:02:22

Behind every statistic is a person. Behind every person is a family. And behind every family is a story that deserves to be heard. We heard from a former World Health Organization employee who has spent more than a quarter million dollars of her own money trying to regain her health. Think about that for a moment— a quarter of a million dollars. Once again, we were reminded that for some of those who were injured, the consequences are not only physical, they can affect careers, finances, marriages, families, independence, and virtually every aspect of a person's life. We also heard evidence raising serious questions about early safety signals. What— when were they identified? What was known? And whether those signals received the attention they warranted. Those are questions that deserve answers. And we heard concerns that some safety signals continue to be dismissed or insufficiently investigated today. Throughout this inquiry, another theme has emerged again and again.

Dean Allison · 0:03:23

The injured are helping the injured. When people feel and felt they could not find answers elsewhere, they found one another. They shared information, they helped each other navigate the medical system, they supported families, and they even raised money. And perhaps most importantly, they reminded one another that their voices mattered. Yesterday we heard from a brave young woman who simply would not take no for an answer. When the doors were closed, she kept knocking. When she felt she wasn't being heard, she kept asking and kept speaking. When the system didn't provide the answers that she was looking for, she kept pushing. There is something important in that determination. People should not have to fight simply to be heard. We also heard from two healthy, active young people, just 23 and 24 years old, who experienced myocarditis, heart damage, and the loss to actually move freely. Whatever one's views on COVID-19 vaccine, when young Canadians experience serious medical events following vaccination, their cases deserve careful investigation, appropriate medical care, and compassion.

Dean Allison · 0:04:27

Acknowledging people who report injuries should never be controversial. And finally, we heard from an Ottawa police officer who was punished for doing what she believed was her job. Her testimony raises a broader question about what happens to people who ask questions, challenge decisions, or attempted to act accordingly to their professional responsibilities during an extraordinary difficult period in our country's history. Over these four days, we have heard from people with every very different backgrounds— firefighters, police officers, healthcare professionals, government employees, parents, young people, business owners, people who are athletes, and people who simply consider themselves healthy and active. While their circumstances are different, many of the stories contain the same themes. They became sick, they searched for answers, they struggled to find help, and too often they felt nobody was listening. That is one of the most important lessons I will take away from this week. While we may disagree about public policy, we may even disagree about decisions made during the pandemic, we may disagree about the vaccines, but we surely can agree on this.

Dean Allison · 0:05:29

When Canadians say they've been injured and are asking for our help, our first response should be compassion, not dismissal. More than 1,400 Canadians applied to appear before this inquiry. We could only hear from a fraction of them during these four days. To those we could not hear from, I want you to know your stories still matter. We want your stories to be documented. We want your voices to be heard. And the fact that you did not sit in the witness chair does not make what happened to you any less important. For three days, Canadians have entrusted us with extraordinary personal stories. Today, on our final day, We owe them the same thing we promised them at the beginning: our attention, our respect, and our willingness to listen. Yesterday, we heard again that the injured have helped the injured. Perhaps the challenge for all of us, for governments, medical institutions, elected officials, and Canadians generally, is to ask a very simple question: Why were so many of them left feeling that they had to do it alone?

Dean Allison · 0:06:32

That is a question worth pursuing long after these four days are over. For too long, many of these Canadians have felt that nobody was listening. This week we listened. Today we will continue. And after this inquiry ends, we must make sure we don't stop listening.

Glen Motz · 0:06:48

Thank you.

Dean Allison · 0:06:49

Let's get our day started.