Category: NGO/CS

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Bill C-36: Red Flag Laws In The Name Of Preemptively Combatting Hate Speech

Bill C-36 has been introduced into the House of Commons. It would be fair to describe portions of this as a “red flag” law. People can be subjected to Court restrictions simply based on the suspicion that they may engage in hate speech or hate propaganda.

Welcome to the Pre-Crime Unit, and the Minority Report

Fear of hate propaganda offence or hate crime
810.‍012 (1) A person may, with the Attorney General’s consent, lay an information before a provincial court judge if the person fears on reasonable grounds that another person will commit
(a) an offence under section 318 or subsection 319(1) or (2);
(b) an offence under subsection 430(4.‍1); or
(c) an offence motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other similar factor.
Appearances

(2) The provincial court judge who receives an information under subsection (1) may cause the parties to appear before a provincial court judge.

Adjudication
(3) If the provincial court judge before whom the parties appear is satisfied by the evidence adduced that the informant has reasonable grounds for the fear, the judge may order that the defendant enter into a recognizance to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of not more than 12 months.

Duration extended
(4) However, if the provincial court judge is also satisfied that the defendant was convicted previously of any offence referred to in subsection (1), the judge may order that the defendant enter into the recognizance for a period of not more than two years.

Refusal to enter into recognizance
(5) The provincial court judge may commit the defendant to prison for a term of not more than 12 months if the defendant fails or refuses to enter into the recognizance.

Conditions in recognizance
(6) The provincial court judge may add any reasonable conditions to the recognizance that the judge considers desirable to secure the good conduct of the defendant, including conditions that
(a) require the defendant to wear an electronic monitoring device, if the Attorney General makes that request;
(b) require the defendant to return to and remain at their place of residence at specified times;
(c) require the defendant to abstain from the consumption of drugs, except in accordance with a medical prescription, of alcohol or of any other intoxicating substance;
(d) require the defendant to provide, for the purpose of analysis, a sample of a bodily substance prescribed by regulation on the demand of a peace officer, a probation officer or someone designated under paragraph 810.‍3(2)‍(a) to make a demand, at the place and time and on the day specified by the person making the demand, if that person has reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant has breached a condition of the recognizance that requires them to abstain from the consumption of drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicating substance;
(e) require the defendant to provide, for the purpose of analysis, a sample of a bodily substance prescribed by regulation at regular intervals that are specified, in a notice in Form 51 served on the defendant, by a probation officer or a person designated under paragraph 810.‍3(2)‍(b) to specify them, if a condition of the recognizance requires the defendant to abstain from the consumption of drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicating substance; or
(f) prohibit the defendant from communicating, directly or indirectly, with any person identified in the recognizance, or refrain from going to any place specified in the recognizance, except in accordance with the conditions specified in the recognizance that the judge considers necessary.

Conditions — firearms
(7) The provincial court judge shall consider whether it is desirable, in the interests of the defendant’s safety or that of any other person, to prohibit the defendant from possessing any firearm, cross-bow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance, or all of those things. If the judge decides that it is desirable to do so, the judge shall add that condition to the recognizance and specify the period during which it applies.

Surrender, etc.
(8) If the provincial court judge adds a condition described in subsection (7) to a recognizance, the judge shall specify in the recognizance how the things referred to in that subsection that are in the defendant’s possession shall be surrendered, disposed of, detained, stored or dealt with and how the authorizations, licences and registration certificates that are held by the defendant shall be surrendered.

Reasons
(9) If the provincial court judge does not add a condition described in subsection (7) to a recognizance, the judge shall include in the record a statement of the reasons for not adding it.

Variance of conditions
(10) A provincial court judge may, on application of the informant, the Attorney General or the defendant, vary the conditions fixed in the recognizance.

Other provisions to apply
(11) Subsections 810(4) and (5) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to recognizances made under this section.

-A person can be ordered to appear before a Provincial Court
-A Judge can order a person to enter into a Recognizance for 12 months
-That Recognizance can last for 24 months if there is a prior conviction
-A person can be jailed for 12 months for refusing a Recognizance
-A person can be ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device
-A person can be subjected to a curfew
-A person can be ordered to abstain from alcohol
-A person can be subjected to drug/alcohol testing
-That drug/testing can be ordered at regular intervals
-A person can be subjected to a no contact order (of 3rd parties)
-A person can be prohibited from going to certain places
-A person may be subjected to other conditions

Keep in mind, all of these conditions can be imposed, simply because of the SUSPICION that a hate crime will be committed, or hate propaganda will be distributed.

Not only is the Canadian Criminal Code to be amended, but the Canadian Human Rights Code will be as well, to implement fines and cessation orders. There doesn’t seem to be real standard for what counts as hate speech.

Canadian Human Rights Act
Amendments to the Act
2013, c. 37, s. 1
12 Section 4 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is replaced by the following:
Orders regarding discriminatory practices
4 A discriminatory practice, as described in sections 5 to 14.‍1, may be the subject of a complaint under Part III and anyone found to be engaging or to have engaged in a discriminatory practice may be made subject to an order as provided for in section 53 or 53.‍1.
.
13 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 12:
Communication of hate speech
.
13 (1) It is a discriminatory practice to communicate or cause to be communicated hate speech by means of the Internet or other means of telecommunication in a context in which the hate speech is likely to foment detestation or vilification of an individual or group of individuals on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.
Continuous communication
.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person who communicates or causes to be communicated hate speech continues to do so for as long as the hate speech remains public and the person can remove or block access to it.

Complaint substantiated — section 13
53.‍1 If at the conclusion of an inquiry the member or panel conducting the inquiry finds that a complaint relating to a discriminatory practice described in section 13 is substantiated, the member or panel may make one or more of only the following orders against the person found to be engaging or to have engaged in the discriminatory practice:
(a) an order to cease the discriminatory practice and take measures, in consultation with the Commission on the general purposes of the measures, to redress the practice or to prevent the same or a similar practice from recurring;
(b) an order to pay compensation of not more than $20,000 to any victim personally identified in the communication that constituted the discriminatory practice, for any pain and suffering that the victim experienced as a result of that discriminatory practice, so long as that person created or developed, in whole or in part, the hate speech indicated in the complaint;
(c) an order to pay a penalty of not more than $50,000 to the Receiver General if the member or panel considers it appropriate having regard to the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the discriminatory practice, the wilfulness or intent of the person who is engaging or has engaged in the discriminatory practice, any prior discriminatory practices that the person has engaged in and the person’s ability to pay the penalty.
Award of costs
53.‍2 A member or panel conducting an inquiry into a complaint filed on the basis of section 13 may award costs for abuse of process in relation to the inquiry.

According to the revisions in the Act, “hate speech” will be ongoing as long as the material is available publicly, and could be removed. A person can also be ordered to be $20,000 to each victim, and $50,000 to the panel itself.

Problem with all of this, “hate speech” is disturbingly vague. It could be applied subjectively, depending on the politics of the parties involved.

(1) https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&billId=11452710
(2) https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-36/first-reading
(3) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-69.html#docCont
(4) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-91.html#h-122977

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PHAC Supporting “Science Up First”, Online Counter-Misinformation Group

Hey there. Ever get the feeling that the Government may be behind a lot of the propaganda that is going on? Well, there may be something to that. Meet the group Science Up First.

  1. Blast the media with our own narrative
  2. Eliminate information that contradicts our narrative

WHY #SCIENCEUPFIRST?
The goal of #ScienceUpFirst is to get people to consider the available science first before sharing content online.
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We understand that in the age of social media there is a growing need for science-informed content. We hope to inspire people to amplify the distribution of expert-written and reviewed content and to help stop the spread of COVID-19 related misinformation throughout the internet.
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#ScienceUpFirst is both good practice and a call to action!
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a marked rise in misinformation and conspiracy theories related to Health information and governments’ response to the outbreak. The WHO has classified this as a global infodemic. According to experts conspiracy, misinformation and conspiracy theories are rapidly spreading on social media and represent a threat to the Health and Safety of Canadians.
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As a result, there is an identified need for national cooperation and mobilization of independent scientists, researchers, information experts, health care providers and science communicators to come together to collaboratively create and disseminate quality health-related information available to the public.

In other words, we don’t need people fact checking and reviewing our work. We need people to uncritically amplify it on their social media. Now, who runs the show?

STEERING COMMITTEE

  • Carrie Bourassa: Professor in the Department of Community Health & Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and the Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health
  • Marie-Eve Carignan: Associate Professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Sherbrooke and Head of Media Division, UNESCO Chair in Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism (UNESCO-PREV Chair)
  • Timothy Caulfield: Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, Univ. Alberta
  • Imogen Coe: Professor, Chemistry & Biology, Faculty of Science; Dimensions Chair Member, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST) at Ryerson University & St. Michael’s Hospital; President, Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences 2020-2022
  • Amber Mac (MacArthur): President, AmberMac Media Inc.
  • Marianne Mader : Executive Director, Canadian Association of Science Centers
  • Anthony Morgan: Founder, Science Everywhere; Science Communicator
  • Tara Moriarty: Associate Professor, University of Toronto (Infectious Disease research); Co-lead: COVID-19 Resources Canada; Executive team member: CanCOVID; Diagnostics Pillar lead, Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network
  • David M. Patrick: Director of Research and Medical Epidemiology Lead for AMR, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control; Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health
  • Krishana Sankar: Biological Scientist; COVID-19 Resources Canada Science Communication Lead and Volunteer Programs Director
  • Joe Schwarcz: Director, McGill Office for Science and Society
  • Marva Sweeney-Nixon: Professor and Chair, Department of Biology; Faculty of Science, University of Prince Edward Island
  • Fatima Tokhmafshan: Geneticist, Bioethicist, Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre, COVID-19 Resources Canada Science Communication Lead, Canadian Science Policy Centre Social Media Chair
  • Samantha Yammine: Director, Science Sam Media

#ScienceUpFirst Coalition

  • Lisa Barrett: Assistant professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University
  • Chantal Barriault: Director, Science Communication Graduate Program, School of the Environment, Laurentian University
  • Tyler Black: Clinical Assistant Professor, University of BC
  • Isaac Bogoch: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto; Infectious disease specialist; Clinician Investigator, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute
  • Colette Brin: Professor at Université Laval’s Département d’information et de communication and the Director of the Centre d’études sur les médias
  • Tania Bubela: Professor and Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
  • Tracy Calogheros: CEO, Exploration Place Museum & Science Centre, BC
  • Christine Chambers: Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Children’s Pain and Killam Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience; Scientific Director, CIHR’s Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
  • Naheed Dosani: Palliative Care Physician & Health Justice Activist
  • Kathryn Hill: Executive Director, MediaSmarts
  • Jonathan Jarry: Science Communicator, McGill Office for Science and Society
  • Eoghan Moriarty: Solutions Architect, LabCrunch
  • Alex Munter: CEO, CHEO
  • Ubaka Ogbogu: Assistant Professor, Faculties of Law and Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Law Centre, University of Alberta
  • Jonathan N. Stea: Clinical Psychologist, Adjunct Assistant Professor University of Calgary
  • Heidi Tworek: Associate Prof, Public Policy & History, UBC

Interesting, how the bulk of these people are university professors. Is their funding in any way tied to the efforts they make? Now, Science Up First does provide, in broad strokes, the method of how they go about doing this:

(1) Provide science from trusted and credible sources, particularly those that note the scientific consensus on the relevant topic.
(2) Highlight rhetorical and logic gaps used to push misinformation (e.g., relying on anecdotes & testimonials, misrepresenting risk).
(3) Use (and create) clear and shareable content that is relevant to a range of audiences (meeting people where they are and considering unique concerns, etc.).
(4) Emphasize content that is respectful, inclusive, authentic, accessible, and kind in tone.
(5) Aim for creative and engaging content that highlights the facts.
(6) Emphasize inclusive messaging for a general audience and/or tailored to meet needs of specific communities

Of course, they’ll never directly address serious issues such as vaccine manufacturers being indemnified, or their products receiving “interim authorization” instead of approval. They won’t address the mass censorship on Facebook and Twitter of conflicting information.

That said, if you are willing to uncritically signal boost the (ever changing) narrative, then Science Up First may be an option for you.

For a specific example, the issue of heart problems is discussed on the Twitter account. It’s too big to simply ignore altogether, so the people posting try to let you know how rare it is. Now, some may find it unsettling to post information randomly telling people to ignore such concerns. However, that is the state of “science” these days.

(1) https://www.scienceupfirst.com/
(2) https://www.scienceupfirst.com/en/who
(3) https://www.scienceupfirst.com/en/why
(4) https://www.scienceupfirst.com/en/how#guidelines
(5) https://twitter.com/scienceupfirst
(6) https://twitter.com/ScienceUpFirst/status/1405972418812841991
(7) https://www.instagram.com/scienceupfirst/
(8) https://www.facebook.com/Science-Up-First-104308078247296

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WHO Advises Not To Vaccinate Children, Then Changes It Secretly

As of 3 June 2021, WHO has evaluated that the following vaccines against COVID-19 have met the necessary criteria for safety and efficacy:

  • AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine
  • Johnson and Johnson
  • Moderna
  • Pfizer/BionTech
  • Sinopharm
  • Sinovac

Read our Q&A on the Emergency Use Listing process to find out more about how WHO assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

Some national regulators have also assessed other COVID-19 vaccine products for use in their countries.

Take whatever vaccine is made available to you first, even if you have already had COVID-19. It is important to be vaccinated as soon as possible once it’s your turn and not wait. Approved COVID-19 vaccines provide a high degree of protection against getting seriously ill and dying from the disease, although no vaccine is 100% protective.

WHO SHOULD GET VACCINATED

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe for most people 18 years and older, including those with pre-existing conditions of any kind, including auto-immune disorders. These conditions include: hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver and kidney disease, as well as chronic infections that are stable and controlled.

If supplies are limited in your area, discuss your situation with your care provider if you:

-Have a compromised immune system
-Are pregnant (if you are already breastfeeding, you should continue after vaccination)
-Have a history of severe allergies, particularly to a vaccine (or any of the ingredients in the vaccine)
-Are severely frail

Children should not be vaccinated for the moment.

There is not yet enough evidence on the use of vaccines against COVID-19 in children to make recommendations for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Children and adolescents tend to have milder disease compared to adults. However, children should continue to have the recommended childhood vaccines.

WHAT SHOULD I DO AND EXPECT AFTER GETTING VACCINATED

Stay at the place where you get vaccinated for at least 15 minutes afterwards, just in case you have an unusual reaction, so health workers can help you.

Check when you should come in for a second dose – if needed. Most of the vaccines available are two-dose vaccines. Check with your care provider whether you need to get a second dose and when you should get it. Second doses help boost the immune response and strengthen immunity.

In most cases, minor side effects are normal. Common side effects after vaccination, which indicate that a person’s body is building protection to COVID-19 infection include:

-Arm soreness
-Mild fever
-Tiredness
-Headaches
-Muscle or joint aches

Contact your care provider if there is redness or tenderness (pain) where you got the shot that increases after 24 hours, or if side effects do not go away after a few days.

If you experience an immediate severe allergic reaction to a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, you should not receive additional doses of the vaccine. It’s extremely rare for severe health reactions to be directly caused by vaccines.

Taking painkillers such as paracetamol before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to prevent side effects is not recommended. This is because it is not known how painkillers may affect how well the vaccine works. However, you may take paracetamol or other painkillers if you do develop side effects such as pain, fever, headache or muscle aches after vaccination.

Even after you’re vaccinated, keep taking precautions

While a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent serious illness and death, we still don’t know the extent to which it keeps you from being infected and passing the virus on to others. The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change.

Continue to take actions to slow and eventually stop the spread of the virus:

-Keep at least 1 metre from others
-Wear a mask, especially in crowded, closed and poorly ventilated settings.
-Clean your hands frequently
-Cover any cough or sneeze in your bent elbow
-When indoors with others, ensure good ventilation, such as by opening a window

Doing it all protects us all.

UPDATE TO ARTICLE

Children and adolescents tend to have milder disease compared to adults, so unless they are part of a group at higher risk of severe COVID-19, it is less urgent to vaccinate them than older people, those with chronic health conditions and health workers.

Shortly after originally posting, WHO changed its advice. Now, instead of “we shouldn’t vaccinate children”, the article reads “it’s less urgent”. Nice way to slip the narrative.

(1) https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
(2) https://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/policies_strategies/consent_note_en.pdf
(3) WHO Schools And Implied Not Direct Consent
(4) https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/340841/WHO-2019-nCoV-Policy-brief-Mandatory-vaccination-2021.1-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
(5) WHO Paper On MANDATORY Vaccination April 13, 2021 (Copy)
(6) https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-27/page-8.html#h-234517
(7) https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/drugs-vaccines-treatments/interim-order-import-sale-advertising-drugs.html#a2.3
(8) https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-pm-en.pdf
(9) https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/janssen-covid-19-vaccine-pm-en.pdf
(10) https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/covid-19-vaccine-moderna-pm-en.pdf
(11) https://covid-vaccine.canada.ca/info/pdf/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-pm1-en.pdf

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American College Health Foundation Is Funded By Big Pharma And Insurance

The American College Health Foundation (ACHF), is promoting the “pandemic” narrative, and even trying to coordinate the mass vaccination of students. Why would it do that? Turns out, the ACHF is involved with different organizations who don’t have the public’s interests at heart.

A look at some of their donors is an instant red flag. Several health companies, which stand to profit, are listed. True, this list is from 2018, but it gives a look into it. And sitting as a top tier donor: Pfizer.

With this in mind, it should not be at all surprising that the ACHF promotes the mass vaccination of college students.

Mass Vaccination Clinic Guidance and Resources
The ACHA COVID-19 task force has gathered resources to assist members in planning for mass vaccination clinics. While currently the focus is on planning the administration of COVID-19 vaccine to large numbers of students and other members of the campus community, these resources and principles may be applied to the administration of any vaccine in a large-scale event. Guidance for supply, delivery, storage, and administration of the anticipated COVID-19 vaccine will come from the federal government and state, territorial, tribal, and local health departments and therefore will not be addressed in any specific way in this document.

In the current situation, it is critical that colleges and universities reach out to the appropriate public health authority so as to be included in the planning and distribution of the vaccine for students and other campus community members. College and university health services will then provide direction to and coordination with their campus partners in setting up systems to manage the details of the immunization plan.

Although specific guidance will be forthcoming from governmental agencies, college health professionals have an important role in encouraging high uptake of vaccines in the campus community.

COVID-19 vaccine mass vaccination events will require additional planning including:

The ACHF is fully behind the agenda of mass vaccinating young adults, but omits any mention of the relevant details:

  1. These vaccines are still undergoing testing
  2. These vaccines have “Emergency Use Authorization” and are not approved
  3. Manufacturers are exempt from liability

The ACHF prominently posts a link to the CDC or Center for Disease Control in the U.S. This page gives “Covid communications” advice, including how to talk to people about getting vaccinated. See below.

For some context, the CDC doesn’t completely function as a Government body, but receives private funding. Its fundraising arm, the CDC Foundation is “an independent nonprofit and the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s critical health protection work”. It’s listed as 501(c)(3) charity. Top partner organizations and corporations are drug companies. A charitable interpretation would be to call it a public-private partnership.

Established by Congress more than two decades ago, the CDC Foundation is an independent, 501(c)(3) public charity.

One of the ACHF’s partners is Pharmedrix, a company that packages drugs and medicine. It’s also “licensed as a drug manufacturer with the State of California and registered as a drug manufacturer/repackager with both the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration”. Pharmedrix is listed as a “Diamond Level” donors to the ACHF.

Another partner of the ACHF is Pyramed Health. The specific “pandemic” services it offers include: (a) Case Management System; (b) Contact Tracing; (c) Zoom Integration; and (d) Custom Lab Interfaces. The current situation seems to have kept them very busy.

Also on the list is Aetna Health, an insurance broker, who also provides referrals to a variety of other health services.

Gallagher Koster, is another insurance company, and another top donor to the ACHF. Unsurprisingly, its target customers are college students.

This is hardly an exhaustive listing, the pattern is unmistakable: there is a lot of money tied up in poisoning people, without fully disclosing the risks. The American education industry seems to be no different.

(1) https://www.acha.org/
(2) https://www.acha.org/ACHA/Resources/COVID-19_Novel_Coronavirus/Mass_Vaccination_Guidance_and_Resources/ACHA/Resources/Topics/Mass_Vaccination_Clinic_Guidance_and_Resources.aspx?hkey=aa394485-cc39-417a-ab2e-bcddc24f14ed
(3) https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-systems-communication-toolkit.html
(4) https://www.cdcfoundation.org/our-story
(5) https://www.cdcfoundation.org/partner-list/foundations
(6) https://www.cdcfoundation.org/partner-list/corporations
(7) https://www.acha.org/documents/ACHF/ACHF_Donor_List_2018.pdf
(8) ACHF Top Donor Honour Roll 2018
(9) https://www.acha.org/documents/ACHF/Partners_for_Wellness_2017.pdf
(10) ACHF Partners For Wellness 2017
(11) http://www.pharmedixrx.com/
(12) https://pyramed-health.com/covid-19-solutions/
(13) https://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/en/main/about-us.html
(14) https://www.gallagherstudent.com/
(15) http://www.sdweissfoundation.com/programs/

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Bit Of History: WHO Wrote Paper On “Implied Consent” For Vaccinations In 2014

Several years ago, the World Health Organization published a paper on various levels of “consent” required for vaccinating children. It also introduces the idea of “implied consent for children”. Apparently, just going to school after a notice has been given will suffice.

Approaches to obtain informed consent:

  • 1. Written consent
  • 2. Verbal consent
  • 3. Implied consent

It’s the third type that is the most nefarious.

3. An implied consent process by which parents are informed of imminent vaccination through social mobilization and communication, sometimes including letters directly addressed to the parents. Subsequently, the physical presence of the child or adolescent, with or without an accompanying parent at the vaccination session, is considered to imply consent. This practice is based on the opt-out principle and parents who do not consent to vaccination are expected implicitly to take steps to ensure that their child or adolescent does not participate in the vaccination session. This may include not letting the child or adolescent attend school on a vaccination day, if vaccine delivery occurs through schools.

Implied consent procedures are common practice in many countries. However, when children present for vaccination unaccompanied by their parents, it is challenging to determine whether parents indeed provided consent. Therefore, countries are encouraged to adopt procedures that ensure that parents have been informed and agreed to the vaccination. Comprehensive data on whether the approach countries use to deal with consent has changed or evolved over the last decades is not available.

Based on concepts of vaccines as a public good, or on public-health goals of disease elimination and outbreak control, some countries identify one or more vaccines as mandatory in law, or in their policies. Vaccination may, for example, be made a condition for entry into preschool or primary school, or to enable access to welfare benefits. Whether consent is needed for mandatory vaccination depends on the legal nature of the regulations. When mandatory vaccination is established in relevant provisions in law, consent may not be required. If the mandatory nature of vaccination is based on policy, or other forms of soft law, informed consent needs to be obtained as for any other vaccines. Some countries allow individuals to express non-consent (opt-out) and obtain an exemption for mandatory vaccines. This may come with certain conditions, like barring unvaccinated children from attending school during disease outbreaks

Have to cringe at how getting informed consent, or having the parents involved, is seen as an inconvenience. Then again, many concerned parents would put a stop to such things.

(1) https://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/policies_strategies/consent_note_en.pdf
(2) WHO Schools And Implied Not Direct Consent
(3) https://www.sott.net/article/424625-WHO-now-says-your-childs-presence-in-school-counts-as-informed-consent-for-vaccination-parental-presence-not-required

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President Of CPC National Council, Robert Batherson, Starts Up Own Lobbying Firm

We come to Robert Batherson, the President of the National Council of the CPC. This is yet another example of the revolving door between politics and lobbying.

First elected to National Council in 2016, Robert Batherson has been an active Conservative for more than 25 years. He served as the president of two Nova Scotia electoral district associations and was a member of the National Policy Committee in 2012-2013. Rob has been as active at the provincial level, serving as president of the PC Party of Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2012 and co-chairing the 2006 PC Party of Nova Scotia Leadership Convention.

As Executive Vice President, Public Relations, for one of the largest communications agencies in Atlantic Canada, Rob provides counsel and support to senior leaders in a wide range of sectors. He is an active community volunteer with extensive board governance experience, having chaired both the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and Neptune Theatre Foundation, where he became one of only eight people in the theatre’s 58-year history to be named honourary director in recognition of his service.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Public Relations degree and certificate of proficiency in French from Mount Saint Vincent University.

After a stint in Federal politics, Batherson got involved with Nova Scotia politics. He then spent over a decade at the PR firm “Colour”, which was essentially lobbying and marketing. He’s now back with the Federal Conservative Party, and is the President of the National Council.

In short, Batherson is one of the people who actually run the party, even if very few outside of that circle know who he is. But here’s where things take an ugly turn:

On May 16, 2021, the MacDonald Notebook reported that Batherson was starting up his own PR firm, Harbourview Public Affairs. The Halifax Chamber of Commerce also shared the announcement.

It’s unclear which clients Batherson will be taking on as the Owner of Habourview Public Affairs. Nonetheless, this seems to be a serious conflict of interest. If the CPC had any integrity, they would strip him of his Party role.

Just a hunch, but it’s likely that pharmaceutical companies will be approaching him, given his new found position as the man behind Erin O’Toole

A Few Names To Keep In Mind
Erin O’Toole: ex-Facebook lobbyist, CPC Leader
Amber Ruddy: CURRENT pharma lobbyist, CPC National Council Secretary
Robert Batherson: CURRENT lobbyist, CPC National Council President
Melissa Lantsman: ex-pharma lobbyist, CPC Candidate for Thornhill

(1) https://www.conservative.ca/
(2) https://www.conservative.ca/team/national-council/
(3) https://www.conservative.ca/team-member/robert-batherson/
(4) https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-batherson-he-him-7601a6a3/
(5) https://archive.is/8dm97
(6) https://www.themacdonaldnotebook.ca/2021/05/16/rob-batherson-incorporates-his-own-pr-company-harbourview-public-affairs/
(7) http://business.halifaxchamber.com/members/member/harbourview-public-affairs-179707
(8) https://secure.llscanada.org/site/TR/MWOY/Atlantic?px=1198385&pg=personal&fr_id=1101
(9) https://www.conservative.ca/team-member/amber-ruddy/