Connect with us
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=12]

COVID-19

Freedom Convoy Sentencing: Lich and Barber escape prison terms but will spend months in house arrest

Published

13 minute read

Court reporting from the X account of Right Blend 

The following highlights are from the X account of Right Blend who has been covering the Freedom Convoy trial at length.  For his complete coverage, please click on the title above or the X posting below.

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber SENTENCING
The government has said Chris and Tamara should spend 8 and 7 years in prison respectively.  These are non-violent offences and first time offenders with impeccable family and professional lives. They are extraordinarily pro social and probably have some of the greatest public support for any convicted person in Canada in many, many years. Distinguished defence attorney Lawrence Greenspon said it himself. It’s very, very rare for him to be able to talk about the POSITIVE IMPACT of a client’s crime. Yet alone so extensively. The letters of support flooded in telling him just how much positive change the trucker protest made in their lives. Some said it saved them. And it’s all true.
In my humble opinion, the life-saving impact of the trucker protest vastly outweighs any negative impact of horns. Horns which Tamara never honked. Horns which they’re not responsible for. Other people’s actions. But the crown said no, they stood SHOULDER TO SHOULDER with them. They’re a principal and a party, and an aider and abettor to… Trucks parked on the street and horns. So 7+ years in jail? This is a dark day for our country. Pray for our country. Pray for Chris and Tamara. Follow this thread for my live tweets.
8/ The judge begins reading her sentence going over Tamara’s one conviction and Chris’ 2 convictions. She talks about the streets being gridlocked and Tamara spending 49 real days in jail. She talks about the unprecedented submissions made in this case and the long duration of the trial.
Although this sentence will draw a conclusion of these proceedings for Ms Lich, the crown’s forfeiture for Big Red will continue in November. Justice Heather Perkins McVey explains she previously explained the officially induced error motion was dismissed.
The crown seeks extraordinary and unprecedented sentence for Lich and Barber, 7 for Lich and 8 for Barber for additional conviction of disobey court order. Crown argues no precedent for something of this magnitude. That Lich and Barber are criminally liable for extraordinary harm and impact on Ottawa because of Freedom Convoy 2022 that they are leaders and organizers. It is argued the mischief had a broader impact and that the expressions did not represent beliefs but unlawful conduct.
The defence submits that the offence warrants absolute discharge or at least for Barber a non-custodial sentence. Defence for Barber argues it’s cruel and unusual punishment. Counsel for Ms Lich argues the request is untenable and this prosecution is not of means of Ms Lich but a minorty of others.
He argues there are 5 things of this case that reduce Lich’s moral blameworthiness.
1: means of others should [not apply to Lich]…
2: she never advocated unlawfulness of violance
3: there were other groups she did not control
4: considerable eforts of Lich and Barber to reduce means of others and no case of protesters working with police to reduce impact of others
5: The freedom convoy had a positive impact on thousands in this country.
Judge: the parties could not be further apart on their parties… much as this has highlighted the schisms of Canadians society… politics has no role in the courtroom and has no role in determining a fit and fair offence.
In determining sentence, must consider degree of offence, responsibility of accused and gravity.

 

24/ BACK IN SESSION.

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey of the Ontario Court of Justice continues.

Judge: as noted, at any sentencing the aggravating and mitigating factors are important in determining sentence

Aggravating:

Lich and Barber leaders of protest. Attended meeting to attend strategy of quote gridlocking city. Don’t know result of that meeting but by time of that meeting city already gridlocked as Mr Barber said in his texts.

They led significant convoy of trucks from western Canada. Their roles symbolic. Their messaging [important] … in sustaining protest. Ms Lich was primarily involved in fundraiser. Also encouraged others to come… said to incite others to [block streets and continue blockade]. While both took steps to help police but neither took steps to end protest.

Again Van Huigenbos, leadership in protest is aggravating factor especially when proudly undertaken and announced to others and police.

Protest lasted 3 weeks until enforcement. Neither Lich or Barber left until their arrest despite messaging the protest was unlawful. The excessive noise, fumes, and interruption of property distinguishes this case from shorter more contained events

… as noted in letter from mayor, community on edge and businesses teetering on edge of closing. Lich acknowledged in her letter many businesses cheering us on, but disturbing others.

At a press conference with Lich and others, a report stated people are fed up, blaring of noise, harassment of people on street. Counsel to convoy responded, you just heard Lich answer that question, not leaving until mandates lifted

Barber on Tiktok on Feb 4 stated few people in highrises dont like noises, dont know what i can help

Another tik tok feb 6, people getting pissed off… dont understand why… on your side, need an audience. Citizens of ottawa put pressure on gov… sorry it had to happen in your city.

In a news article quoting barber, he said we understand your frustration, wish there was another way to get it across. But responsibility lies with politicians… who refuse to engage in daiaglouge

 

28/ … I MUST REJECT BOTH SENTENCES OF CROWN AND DEFENCE

… the sentence must reflect society’s condemnation of such conduct. The accused committed serious form of mischief… it is a crime. The accused’s actions had detrimental effect on citizens of Ottawa who wanted to carry on without horns. The roads impassible by trucks emitting diesel fumes making it impossible at times to exit their building and buses to come

The sentence imposed must make clear many Canadians denounce and deter others… and the court must also considered both aggravating and mitigating factors

Given no criminal record, restrain plays a factor…

At sentencing hearing, defence submitted absolute sentence as fair and fit. In my view, such a sentence would be unfit… [quotes Sorano] the courts are overwhelmingly concerned with deterrence… it may be in accused favor for discharge… would send wrong message… would undermine confidence in administration of justice

The court equally rejects 7 and 8 years… it would also be unfit, unfair for the circumstances and principles of sentencing. Individuals accused of serious / violent crimes rarely receive a sentence of that term.

… [quoting Coutts cases]

 

33/ The court finds a [conditional sentence] appropriate and not risk to community.

Both accused have cooperated with bail. Arrest respectful. Neither accused pose risk to community if served [at home] Not going to impose probation after conditional sentence

 

34/ CHRISTOPHER BARBER, PLEASE STAND

CONDITIONAL SENTENCE OF 18 MONTHS FOR MISCHIEF

CONCURRENT 3 MONTHS FOR DISOBEY COURT ORDER

SERVED IN COMMUNITY WITH CONDITIONS:

As noted in Prune [sp], conditional sentence can be longer than jail…

The statutory conditions apply, be of the peace and be of good behavior, report to a supervisor, and after that at such times as required by or authorized by supervisor. This order will transfer to Saskatchewan.

You will remain within jurisdiction of the court unless written permission.

Once the matter is transferred can seek. Must notify change of name or occupation.

In addition, you shall remain within your residence or property of residence for first 12 months except for emergency of you or family or travelling to Stuart Valley for purposes of employment, or going to legal or religious service.

Once per week allowed out for 5 hours for necessities of life.

Also allowed out with prior written permission of supervisor to be carried with you and any other conditions as written by supervisor.

For remaining period of time will abide by curfew of being on property between 10 pm – 5 am except for employment, emergencies of him or family, or permission of supervisor.

 

38/ MS LICH RISES

I am also imposing a conditional sentence of 18 MONTHS.

Although your roles were different. I am subtracting 74 days. So sentence in 15.4 months. As previously noted, this is longer sentence than otherwise would have imposed if in custody for deterrence.

In addition to statutory conditions, I am ordering that you report today to a supervisor here or after such times the supervisor or anyone authorized. This matter will be transferred to Medicine Hat.

For first 12 month you are to be on house arrest to be in your house or on your property at all times except for travelling for court attendances, or medical emergencies for yourself or immediate family, I know you have grandchild on the way can we add grandchildren.

Travelling to or from employment. For medical appointments or religious gatherings. Or with written permission of supervisor. For 5 hours a week for necessities of life.

And I am granting an exception to be out for birth of your grandchild.

For the remaining 3.5 months to be in your residence between 10 pm and 5 am, except for employment or medical emergencies.

You are also going to perform 100 hours of community service under the control of your supervisor. The judge explains that this is to be worked out with the supervisor. Written permission.

Greenspon says those exceptions are fine.

The judge says she knows her work takes her to different places.  The crown asks for emailing [work] schedule as with Mr Barber.

 

39/ The crown clarifies victim surcharge. 400$ for Barber to 200$ for Lich. 60 days to pay. The matter is over. Barber will return virtually in November where the crown will continue trying to seize [steal] his truck Big Red.
40/ If you appreciated my report over the years, consider sending an etransfer to [email protected]

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

COVID-19

Covid Cover-Ups: Excess Deaths, Vaccine Harms, and Coordinated Censorship

Published on

Sonia Elijah investigates Sonia Elijah

The UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has recently been exposed for its blatant refusal to release critical data that could reveal a potential link between Covid-19 shots and the nation’s alarming surge in excess deaths.

This is not a simple case of bureaucratic foot-dragging but what can be described as a deliberate data blackout.

As The Telegraph reveals in a damning exposé, UKHSA officials invoked the “distress or anger” of bereaved families as their shield, arguing that any hint of correlation in the data might shatter the emotional well-being of those left behind.

Sonia Elijah investigates is a reader-supported publication.

To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe to Sonia Elijah Investigates

According to The Telegraph:

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) argued that releasing the data would lead to the “distress or anger” of bereaved relatives if a link were to be discovered.

Public health officials also argued that publishing the data risked damaging the well-being and mental health of the families and friends of people who died.

Last year, a cross-party group expressed alarm about “growing public and professional concerns” over the UK’s rates of excess deaths since 2020.

In a letter to UKHSA and Department for Health, the MPs and peers said that potentially critical data – which map the date of people’s Covid vaccine doses to the date of their deaths – had been released to pharmaceutical companies but not put into the public domain.

They argued that the data should be released “on the same anonymised basis that it was shared with the pharmaceutical groups, and there seems to be no credible reason why that should not be done immediately”.

UsForThem, a campaign group, requested that UKHSA release the data under freedom of information laws. But the agency refused, making a number of different arguments including that publishing the data “could lead to misinformation” that would “have an adverse impact on vaccine uptake” in the public.

UKHSA also claimed there would be a risk of individuals being identified, despite the request being made for an anonymised dataset. After a two-year battle, the Information Commissioner ruled in the UKHSA’s favour, backing its refusal to publish the data.

Gareth Eve whose wife, Lisa Shaw died from the Astra-Zeneca Covid jab, took to social media to express his opinion on the UKHSA’s refusal to disclose the data—under the guise that it will risk “damaging the well-being and mental health of families and friends of people who died.”

He wrote: “As someone who lost his amazing wife to a Covid jab. As a Dad of a little boy who lost his Mammy at the age of 6 I can assure you, my heart and my mental health is already very much broken.”

Dr Craig v the Information Commissioner & the UKHSA

UsForThem was not the only party seeking this crucial data through Freedom of Information requests. As early as 2022, diagnostic pathologist and statistician Dr Clare Craig submitted a series of FOI requests to UKHSA and ONS seeking detailed data on deaths following COVID-19 vaccination. On 4 August 2023 she made a specific request for anonymised individual-level NIMS records of adults over 20 who died after December 2020 (age at first dose, vaccination dates, and barnardised date of death). UKHSA refused disclosure. After the Information Commissioner upheld the refusal in June 2024, Dr Craig appealed to the First-tier Tribunal against both the Information Commissioner and UKHSA. The tribunal dismissed her appeal on 14 October 2025.

Dr Craig kindly gave me persmission to include the First-tier Tribunal’s 27-page decision.

044 151025 Judges Decision (6)
264KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Sonia Elijah investigates is a reader-supported publication.

To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe to Sonia Elijah Investigates

Several anomalies stand out to me:

  1. UKHSA repeatedly changed its legal grounds.

When Dr Clare Craig made her request in August 2023, the UKHSA originally said “no” under section 40(2) FOIA (personal data exemption). Even with barnardised death dates, the UKHSA argued that the combination of age at first dose, exact vaccination dates, and approximate death date could still allow some individuals to be re-identified. So, the UKHSA treated the requested data as third-party personal data and refused it outright.

Later, probably in preparation for the tribunal they downplayed section 40(2) and relied mainly on section 38 FOIA (Health and Safety). Section 38(1) says information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would likely to:

a] endanger the physical or mental health of any individual.

b] endanger the safety of any individual.

This exemption is not absolute but is subject to the public-interest balance test.

The UKHSA also shifted to other arguments: sections: 12 (Cost), 4 (Vexatious or repeated requests), 36 (Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs), 41 (Actionable breach of confidence). They ultimately succeeded with the broad “health and safety” exemption (s.38) based on speculative risks of harassment or violence.

  • Releasing these records (even barnardised) could lead to bereaved families being identified and harassed.
  • It could fuel anti-vaccine campaigns that incite threats or violence against doctors, scientists, or public-health staff.
  • It could cause serious distress to relatives who discover their loved one’s details are being discussed online.
  • Misinformation/misinterpretation of the data could itself damage public confidence and therefore harm mental health on a wider scale.

In short, the UKHSA started with “this is personal data, full stop,” which later became “well, maybe it can be anonymised, but releasing it anyway would endanger people’s health or safety.” Then they threw in every possible additional exemption (cost, vexatious, political damage, and legal confidentiality) to make absolutely sure at least one would stick.

  1. The closed hearing and confidential bundle

Other anomalies that stood out were the following: a closed hearing on 24 June 2025 that Dr Craig was not allowed to attend. And a closed/confidential bundle of documents that she was not allowed to see. Later, the tribunal gave her a written gist (a few paragraphs) that said, in very general terms, what topics have been covered in the closed sessions and what the secret evidence was broadly about—without revealing anything that the UKHSA deemed too sensitive!

When asked for comment, Dr Craig wrote: “There is more than enough evidence that the vaccine products caused death. The majority were covid deaths in the first two weeks after injection and in the period after the third mRNA dose. Non-covid deaths also rose and these did not come in waves. However, the ONS stopped published their data when the problem became undeniable. I hope this story about hiding the data wakes people up to the failure of our institutions to respect the truth over their own agendas.

Silencing the Signal: From Excess Deaths to Black-Ops Disinformation

This active form of suppression has gone far beyond merely downplaying any possible link between COVID shots and excess mortality. What has been actively concealed includes:

  • The very fact of sustained excess deaths appearing across many countries from 2021 onward.
  • The extensive evidence of harm caused by the experimental mRNA and viral-vector injections themselves, as documented in the manufacturers’ own pharmacovigilance reports submitted to regulators (reports that were meant to remain confidential). Read my analysis of these reports herehereherehere and here.
  • A systematic campaign of scientific censorship: dozens of peer-reviewed studies and preprints that identified serious adverse events, novel mechanisms of injury, or elevated mortality signals were retracted, withdrawn, or smeared—often without legitimate scientific justification.
  • An overt psychological and information-warfare operation orchestrated by state actors—including the UK’s 77th Brigade and Counter Disinformation Unit, U.S. agencies, NATO’s strategic communications centres, and independent NGOs, such as the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)—all coordinated to intimidate, defame, deplatform, and silence doctors, scientists, and citizens who publicly questioned the “safe and effective” narrative.
  • Collusion with Big Tech platforms to throttle, shadow-ban, or deplatform dissenting voices under the pretext of “countering disinformation.”

In 2023, I wrote about how governments and mainstream media worldwide have imposed a “veil of silence” on the issue of excess deaths, particularly after the rollout of COVID shots in mid-2021—in stark contrast with their earlier obsession with daily COVID death tallies. My piece centred on a pivotal UK parliamentary 30-minute adjourned debate on October 20, 2023, secured by then-independent MP Andrew Bridgen.

Piercing the Veil of Silence over Excess Deaths

Piercing the Veil of Silence over Excess Deaths

·
October 22, 2023

It is important to remember how the BBC inserted live captions during Bridgen’s debate to fact-check and undermine him in real-time, labelling his claims as “misinformation.

Molly Kingsley, co-founder of UsForThem, a campaign group (also targeted by the Counter Disinformation Unit) that requested the UKHSA to release the data under freedom of information laws, took to social media to post a further detail in their legal case.

The UKHSA also alleged that if they released the data, someone might use it to promote a misleading impression (misinformation) about a possible relationship between dates of dosage and dates of death. They argued that this had the potential to damage confidence in vaccine programmes and so could endanger the health of the public.”

Sonia Elijah investigates is a reader-supported publication.

To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe to Sonia Elijah Investigates

 

A closer look at suppressing the link between excess deaths and Covid shots

In June last year, a bombshell study examining excess deaths on a global level, was published in BMJ Public Health by a group of researchers (Mostert et al.) from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

BOMBSHELL STUDY: 3 MILLION EXCESS DEATHS IN 47 COUNTRIES

BOMBSHELL STUDY: 3 MILLION EXCESS DEATHS IN 47 COUNTRIES

·
June 4, 2024

Their results showed:

The total number of excess deaths in 47 countries of the Western World was 3,098,456 from 1 January 2020 until 31 December 2022. Excess mortality was documented in 41 countries (87%) in 2020, 42 countries (89%) in 2021 and 43 countries (91%) in 2022. In 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic onset and implementation of containment measures, records present 1 033 122 excess deaths (P-score 11.4%). In 2021, the year in which both containment measures and COVID-19 vaccines were used to address virus spread and infection, the highest number of excess deaths was reported: 1 256 942 excess deaths (P-score 13.8%). In 2022, when most containment measures were lifted and COVID-19 vaccines were continued, preliminary data present 808 392 excess deaths.

The group’s findings were amplified by an article in The Telegraph: “Covid vaccines may have helped fuel rise in excess deaths.”

Notably, shortly afterwards, the Princess Máxima Center (the Paediatric Oncology centre affiliated with the authors) issued a statement, “distancing itself” from the publication. It went on to assert: “The study in no way demonstrates a link between vaccinations and excess mortality; that is explicitly not the researchers’ finding. We therefore regret that this impression has been created.”

This triggered BMJ Public Health to respond with an “expression of concern” a few days later, stating: “The integrity team and editors are investigating issues raised regarding the quality and messaging of this work.”

CENSORING THE SCIENCE: Bombshell Study on Excess Deaths Faces Retraction

CENSORING THE SCIENCE: Bombshell Study on Excess Deaths Faces Retraction

·
June 17, 2024

 

The last update, in January 2025, stated: “BMJ are awaiting the result of an institutional investigation into the conduct of the work, which was due to be finalized by the end of 2024. At present, the institution can offer no update on when the information will be sent to BMJ.”

Also noteworthy is that on 25 August 2023, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that it would no longer update its “Deaths by vaccination status, England” series, marking the end of its regular publications. The ONS stated: “We will no longer be updating the Deaths by vaccination status analysis, England series.” No specific reasons were detailed in the notice. This begs the questions: what caused ONS to make such a decision? Is it because an inconvenient pattern of truth was emerging that went against the “safe and effective” narrative?

On 18 April 2024, Andrew Bridgen managed to secure a landmark two-hour House of Commons debate on excess deaths since 2021 and their link to mRNA COVID vaccines.

Debate in Parliament Ignites over Excess Deaths and Vaccine Safety Concerns

Debate in Parliament Ignites over Excess Deaths and Vaccine Safety Concerns

·
April 18, 2024

Describing it as “the greatest medical scandal in living memory,” Bridgen — himself double-vaccinated and vaccine-injured — accused authorities of deliberately hiding and manipulating data, abandoning proven protocols, and using midazolam/morphine under NICE NG163 to hasten deaths. He highlighted UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) baseline changes that erased ~20,000 excess deaths in 2023 and their refusal to release anonymised record-level data.

The “inconvenient” data secured by Wouter Aukema

My series of interviews with senior data patterns & forensics analyst, Wouter Aukema, have been extremely revealing. Aukema and his team’s software was able to download 15 million case safety reports (within and outside of Europe) for 6000 drugs and vaccines from European Medicines Agency’s EudraVigilance system for the past 20 years. This information was presented on dashboards, built to make public pharmacovigilance data accessible and navigable. They shockingly revealed a three-fold increase in case safety reports for the Covid vaccines (at the start of the rollout) compared to all the other drug products and substances- over the past 20 years.

True Horrors of Covid Vaccine Harm Data NOW Exposed!

True Horrors of Covid Vaccine Harm Data NOW Exposed!

·
May 1, 2024

In my second interview with Aukema, he dropped the biggest bombshell. According to his systematic downloading of the data from EudraVigilance (which includes case safety reports from around the world not just the EU)- 40% of worldwide serious case safety reports (including hospitalization and death) in relation to Covid vaccines (only) have been removed from the European Medicines Agency’s database from October 2021-November 2022. In addition, case safety reports have also been retroactively modified, after their data lockpoint (DLP).

Data Crimes: Deleting Covid Vaccine Deaths

Data Crimes: Deleting Covid Vaccine Deaths

·
November 5, 2024

Only last month, I broke the story how the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had sent a letter to Aukema demanding he immediately delete the pharmacovigilance data dowloaded from EudraVigilance. It has also come to light that similar EMA letters were sent to French researchers Emma Darles and Pavan Vincent.

BREAKING: Data Analyst Faces EMA's Demand to Delete Pharmacovigilance Data!

BREAKING: Data Analyst Faces EMA’s Demand to Delete Pharmacovigilance Data!

Oct 25

 

Just a day before Aukema was going to present his findings at the Back to the Future conference, he discovered an email from the EMA in his spam folder, with a subject line that sent chills: “Request to immediately delete non-public information originating from the EudraVigilance system and made available on the dashboards you have on Tableau Public.”

Sonia Elijah investigates is a reader-supported publication.

To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe to Sonia Elijah Investigates

 

One of the key claims alleged by the EMA was that Aukema’s dashboards, which include worldwide unique case identifiers and country-of-origin data, pose an “indirect” risk of identifying patients. “I have no access to patients’ birth dates or names,” he insisted. “Even if that data was available, I would never have downloaded it. My objective is to gather insights on patterns, not to find people.”

After further discussions with Wouter Aukema, he revealed a disturbing practice affecting approximately 40% of serious (including fatal) COVID-19 vaccine adverse-event reports.

Whenever a case narrative is updated – even for the most trivial edit, such as inserting a comma – the system generates an entirely new case ID number and a new receipt date. The previous version of the report, with its original identifier and timestamp, is permanently overwritten and becomes untraceable. There is no audit trail, no version history, and no way to retrieve the original entry. Aukema describes this as “a floating duck.”

On the surface everything appears normal, but the critical reference points are in constant motion, making it impossible to track changes or hold anyone accountable for what has been altered or suppressed. He suspects that this systematic erasure of original reports is not accidental. In his view, the manipulation originates from the pharmaceutical companies themselves and from national pharmacovigilance authorities – including Lareb in the Netherlands and, by extension, equivalent bodies such as the MHRA (Yellow Card scheme) in the United Kingdom – whose databases feed into the European system.

In short, not only are serious and fatal cases being under-reported or retrospectively downgraded; in a large proportion of instances, the original evidence that they were ever reported in the first place is being deliberately and irreversibly destroyed.

Now, turning back to the UKHSA’s blank refusal to release critical data which could expose the link between excess deaths and the Covid shots—perhaps this link could be found in Aukema’s damning data sets, which include case safety reports from the UK for the Covid shots.

Each individual case safety report (ICSR) in EudraVigilance includes (when reported): date of vaccination, date of onset of the adverse reaction, and the date of death (if fatal). If a large, tightly clustered peak of fatal reports were visible in the first 0–14 days—and especially if that peak exceeded the reporting bias and background mortality expected in the vaccinated population—it would represent a very strong safety signal requiring urgent investigation.

Is this the reason why the EMA are so fixated on the deletion of the country-of-origin data? Could it be a case of an orchestrated cover up shared by regulators amid liability fears?

 

Sonia Elijah investigates is a reader-supported publication.

If you appreciate the hard work I do as an independent investigative journalist,

please consider supporting me with a paid subscription or buy me a coffee!

Subscribe to Sonia Elijah Investigates

Share

Continue Reading

COVID-19

New report warns Ottawa’s ‘nudge’ unit erodes democracy and public trust

Published on

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has released a new report titled Manufacturing consent: Government behavioural engineering of Canadians, authored by veteran journalist and researcher Nigel Hannaford. The report warns that the federal government has embedded behavioural science tactics in its operations in order to shape Canadians’ beliefs, emotions, and behaviours—without transparency, debate, or consent.

The report details how the Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) in Ottawa is increasingly using sophisticated behavioural psychology, such as “nudge theory,” and other message-testing tools to influence the behaviour of Canadians.

Modelled after the United Kingdom’s Behavioural Insights Team, the IIU was originally presented as an innocuous “innovation hub.” In practice, the report argues, it has become a mechanism for engineering public opinion to support government priorities.

With the arrival of Covid, the report explains, the IIU’s role expanded dramatically. Internal government documents reveal how the IIU worked alongside the Public Health Agency of Canada to test and design a national communications strategy aimed at increasing compliance with federal vaccination and other public health directives.

Among these strategies, the government tested fictitious news reports on thousands of Canadians to see how different emotional triggers would help reduce public anxiety about emerging reports of adverse events following immunization. These tactics were designed to help achieve at least 70 percent vaccination uptake, the target officials associated with reaching “herd immunity.”

IIU techniques included emotional framing—using fear, reassurance, or urgency to influence compliance with policies such as lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine requirements. The government also used message manipulation by emphasizing or omitting details to shape how Canadians interpreted adverse events after taking the Covid vaccine to make them appear less serious.

The report further explains that the government adopted its core vaccine message—“safe and effective”—before conclusive clinical or real-world data even existed. The government then continued promoting that message despite early reports of adverse reactions to the injections.

Government reliance on behavioural science tactics—tools designed to steer people’s emotions and decisions without open discussion—ultimately substituted genuine public debate with subtle behavioural conditioning, making these practices undemocratic. Instead of understanding the science first, the government focused primarily on persuading Canadians to accept its narrative. In response to these findings, the Justice Centre is calling for immediate safeguards to protect Canadians from covert psychological manipulation by their own government.

The report urges:

  1. Parliamentary oversight of all behavioural science uses within federal departments, ensuring elected representatives retain oversight of national policy.
  2. Public disclosure of all behavioural research conducted with taxpayer funds, creating transparency of government influence on Canadians’ beliefs and decisions.
  3. Independent ethical review of any behavioural interventions affecting public opinion or individual autonomy, ensuring accountability and informed consent.

Report author Mr. Hannaford said, “No democratic government should run psychological operations on its own citizens without oversight. If behavioural science is being used to influence public attitudes, then elected representatives—not unelected strategists—must set the boundaries.”

Continue Reading

Trending

X