Conservative MP holds independent hearings into COVID-19 vaccine injuries
Over four days in Ottawa this week, the independent inquiry held by Conservative MP Dean Allison heard from witnesses who shared their personal stories of vaccine-related injuries.
Government did not sanction MP Dean Allison's four-day probe in Ottawa
David Cummings · CBC News
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Over four days in Ottawa this week, Conservative MP Dean Allison held independent hearings into COVID-19 vaccine injuries.
The Allison Inquiry heard from 50 witnesses drawn from more than 1,400 applicants, according to a news release. Most were Canadians who came to Parliament Hill from across the country to share their personal stories of injury.
According to its terms of reference, the inquiry was intended to listen to Canadians and not "make findings of fact or to reach conclusions."
It did not hear from Health Canada and was unsanctioned by the federal government.
Allison, who represents Niagara West in the House of Commons, said the inquiry "was intended to begin a conversation that should've begun years ago."
"No matter what people think about [COVID-19] or the vaccines or public policy, compassion should never be controversial," Allison said on Friday as the inquiry drew to a close.
Over the four days, the inquiry heard from a range of witnesses including Drue Taylor, a 36-year-old massage therapist who called in virtually from Alberta because she said her doctor decided travelling to Ottawa could take too much of a physical toll.
"I actually haven't been able to fly or travel really at all since becoming injured," Taylor told the inquiry. "Any disruption to my very normal could absolutely put me back into a serious flare where I'm bed-bound for weeks to months."
'Really frustrating'
Taylor said she developed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic nervous system condition that causes symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fatigue and nausea when standing up.
After a year and a half of back-and-forth with the government, Taylor said she received an initial payout of $45,000 from the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) . She called her experience with the program "really frustrating," saying she's been in the program's appeal stage for years.
According to Health Canada, VISP received 3,557 claims and paid out over $21 million to claimants between June 2021 and November 2025. Of the 1,433 claims that were assessed by the Medical Review Board, 252 were approved.
To be eligible for the program, people must have experienced "serious or permanent injury" as a result of receiving a vaccine authorized by Health Canada.
Following complaints about its administration, the federal government took it over in 2026. The government had previously contracted a third-party administrator, Oxaro, to administer the program, which was later transitioned to the current Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP).
"They were supposed to replace my income," Taylor said. "The original payout wouldn't have even replaced my income for that year as a professional massage therapist who owned her own business."
While most witnesses were Canadians sharing their personal injury stories, the inquiry also heard from others like U.S. Senator Ron Johnson.
Johnson used much of his time testifying as a witness on Tuesday to attack Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson is part of a U.S. Senate committee that voted to hold Fauci in contempt — and to suggest the COVID-19 virus was manmade.
The origins of COVID-19 are a subject of ongoing debate in the scientific community.
Inquiry was 1st of its kind in Canada
Allison said his independent probe sought to fill a void in Canada where, up to this point, no such inquiry into COVID-19 vaccine injuries has been sanctioned by the federal government.
According to the inquiry's website, "more than 30 democratic countries, including many G7 and Commonwealth nations, have launched major COVID-19 inquiries examining lockdowns, mandates, vaccines and government decision-making."
Some medical experts have called on the federal government to launch a full national inquiry into Canada's pandemic response. No such government-led inquiry has happened.
In 2023, some members of the public conducted their own hearings — known as the National Citizens Inquiry into Canada's Response to COVID-19 — which unfolded across multiple provinces.
Top medical experts call for national inquiry into Canada's COVID-19 'failures'
Citizen-led inquiry into Canada's pandemic response makes stop in Winnipeg
Feds should devise way to reflect on COVID-19 response, says Canada's chief science adviser
Last month, Canada's chief science advisor, Mona Nemer, said in an interview with CBC's The House that the federal government should come up with a way to reflect on its own response to the pandemic to better prepare for future public health challenges.
"I think we have to respect how people feel, and then we need to meet them and hear them and understand where things stand," Nemer said.
Between December 2020 and December 2023, a total of 105 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were given out across Canada.
Health Canada reported that 58,712 adverse event reports were made in that time — representing 0.056 per cent of all shots — and that 11,702 of those were considered serious, or 0.011 per cent of all vaccines given out.
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