As part of a three-day court hearing regarding her role in harmful pandemic restrictions, Alberta Chief Medical Officer Deena Hinshaw deflected blame, saying that the provincial cabinet ultimately implemented lockdowns and mandates.
Hinshaw’s trial is part of an over-one- year-old case launched by Albertans against the government over pandemic-related restrictions they want to have ruled unconstitutional. Until now, Hinshaw had managed to dodge her day in court, claiming to be too busy handling the pandemic to possibly make an appearance, despite going on vacation last year the same week as when she was scheduled to appear.
Lawyers Leighton Grey, on behalf of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and Jeff Rath are representing the plaintiffs.
After being grilled by Grey, Hinshaw said that she merely made the recommendations to implement lockdowns and mandates. She further claimed that her recommendations were part of a balancing game of sorts, whether to jeopardize the health care system or risk the mental, physical, and financial well-being of those not at serious risk from COVID-19, who comprise the majority of Alberta’s population.
“There was no approach that would have been an approach with no harms for anyone, and we did our best to move that voluntary approach as far as we could, and unfortunately, it was not successful, and we were left with few options to protect the healthcare system,” said Hinshaw.
As Rebel News’s Sheila Gunn Reid reports from the courtroom, “GREY: your orders impacted the liberties of 96 per cent of Albertans who were at no risk of serious health outcomes or death.”
“HINSHAW: if the hospitals are overwhelmed, healthy people could be impacted by a knock-on effect if they are not able to access the healthcare system.”
Grey has also grilled Hinshaw on why the government restricted the activities of the entire population if she admits that 90 per cent of those who died from COVID had comorbidities.
Grey also brought up that Hinshaw admitted that ICU numbers were unreliable on January 10, though they were used to justify restrictions. Hinshaw contended that ICU numbers stayed the same overall and threatened the system.
“As we have been doing continual quality assurance work with our data, it was identified over time some units in some hospitals have shifted back and forth between being available for use as an ICU unit or a non-ICU unit,” Hinshaw said at the time.
“In some of our historical data, patients admitted for COVID treatment were categorized as being in ICU when the unit they were on, in fact, had been changed back to a non-ICU unit at that time.”
Grey brought up several other concerns, including the fact that Hinshaw didn’t recommend that Albertans lose weight to reduce their risk of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, choosing instead to restrict their freedom in the interest of public health.
“You never told Albertans they could reduce their risk of COVID-19 by reducing the amount that they ate,” said Grey.
“You never said, ‘You know, it would really help you, it would really help your health if you would get your weight under control.'”
To this, Hinshaw replied, “Obesity is a chronic condition. It’s not a condition that can be changed in a short period of time.”
Is two years really a short period of time?
