I was pleased to see Shellbrook Chronicle editor Jordan Twiss use a recent press release I issued as the foundation for his Sept 29th column. *
This is because here is a journalist who, while he may disagree with me on certain topics, appears willing to have a fulsome conversation about them. He asks several questions about my rational and whether I am serving my constituents. They are questions that deserve an answer.
In his column, Twiss calls into question the seriousness of the data I brought forward which reported that there were 1229 adverse reactions to the injections, of which seven were deaths, from Dec 30, 2020 to October 26, 2021. (At that time 1,649,640 injections had been given, therefore a reported reaction rate of .075 per cent or 7.5 for every 1,000) **
He also points out the total number of adverse reactions reported by the government as of Sept 18, 2022, is 1320. That means only 91 more adverse effects were reported in the next 11 months during which an additional 920,000 injections were given. (.0098 per cent reaction rate or 9.8 for every 10,000).
That is a drastic change in ratio. (Also keep in mind that this is over 2.5 million injections for a population of 1.2 million, which more than doubles the risk of adverse reaction per person.)
It is cause to wonder if the criteria for reporting adverse reactions was changed from 2021 to 2022, and if so, why and by whom? Perhaps there is a journalist in Saskatchewan who is willing to dig deeper into that question. Hopefully, they will not need to file a Freedom of Information request to get the data as was the case with the first report. (Of note, the Vaccine Adverse Reaction report was mislabeled as coming from the Saskatchewan Health Authority when in fact it came from the Ministry of Health. This information was relayed to us after publication of the press release.)
The whole reason for my press release which cited the seven deaths, was in response to a CKOM website article**** that asserted that NO deaths had occurred. That story was published during the social media storm that followed the death of a woman in a pharmacy after receiving the injection. That headline was, and still is in my opinion, misleading.
Twiss also suggests that I have not been as publicly vocal about other topics that are of interest to my constituents. He is correct. Here is why.
I have been cognizant to write about what is reflective of the calls and emails I receive. Overwhelmingly, constituents contact me about how Covid has been handled in our province. While, as Twiss points out, Saskatchewan’s mandates were lifted in February, people are still living with the after-effects. The people who lost their jobs rather that be coerced into taking a still experimental therapy, continue to face financial hardships. The people who suffered adverse reactions from the injection are still dealing with the injuries, often with little to no support from the health system. These are the voices I can’t ignore and are the reason I have called for an independent public inquiry into these matters, AND for the government to establish a website where Saskatchewan people and medical personnel can report their experiences.
Twiss acknowledges that not all data is available, for example concerning reported Covid deaths, there is no distinction between those who died FROM Covid as opposed to dying from another cause WITH Covid. To my knowledge, this distinction is not openly available from the Ministry of Health.
It is also implied that I think vaccines should not be administered. What I actually advocate for is that all of us should have all the known facts about the mRNA therapy. In other words, I advocate for true informed consent without minimizing the potential harms.
Twiss asserts that my sole mission has been to challenge the government’s pandemic response. On that he is mistaken. Some of the other topics I have raised in the last year publicly have included:
- The conundrum facing private long term care homes and the dire straits of many seniors whose subsidies no longer cover costs. I have communicated with the government identifying this serious issue with no response to date that will help these seniors.
- I was among the first to identify the Saskatchewan government plan to introduce a centralized system of Digital ID, which received a firestorm of pushback from the public. The government backtracked on that, at least temporarily.
- Along with the official opposition, I fought Bill 70, legislation through which the government eliminated non-partisan security for the Legislative Building (which reported to the Sergeant at Arms) and created a new security force that reports to the Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, extending its’ jurisdiction to the grounds.
- In January 2022, I advocated on behalf of veterinarians to make our region eligible for student subsidies and to increase the number of veterinarian college seats for Saskatchewan. As of September 2022, the government did both.
Internally, my office has also gone to bat for constituents concerned about highways policy, road maintenance, education, shortfalls in the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) program, inability to access health services, issues with Social Services and SaskPower, land transfer delays and skyrocketing property taxes in the Lakeland district. (May I suggest the tax issue as another story that could be investigated by the media.)
At the moment, I have a number of questions tabled with the government that are scheduled for written answers in November 2022.
Finally, my office continues to receive calls from people across Saskatchewan who tell me their own MLA’s will not communicate with them, sometimes even on topics not related to Covid. It’s not that I am ‘all too happy to pounce on the opportunity’ to question pandemic response as suggested by Twiss. It’s more of, ‘If I don’t ask, who will?’
As the only apparent listening ear I will continue, without apology, to work for them and my constituents on all issues. And in that time, I hope the public conversation can begin to be discussed openly without fear of repercussions or cancel culture.
*Nadine Wilson MLA Press Release and Jordan Twiss Editorial published in Sept 29th, 2022 Shellbrook Chronicle:
https://shellbrookchronicle.com/2022/09/29/september-29-2022/
**Saskatchewan Government Report on vaccinations from October 26th, 2021:
***Ministry of Health Data re: Vaccine Injuries obtained through Freedom of Information with annotations:
Screenshot of the original CKOM article:
****Altered CKOM article.
https://www.ckom.com/2022/09/21/saskatchewan-still-recording-no-deaths-related-to-covid-vaccine/
