A Canadian Province Released a COVID Report Full of Pseudoscience. Who Wrote It, and Why?

Donald Trump’s NIH pick was among the authors of a report that recommended discontinuing the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines.

Written by Nick Tsergas Published: 2/1/25

This article has been updated from its original email version.

Last week the province of Alberta published a report on its pandemic-response calling for COVID vaccines to be restricted to “high-risk groups” and to stop “their use in healthy children and teenagers.” A mix of vaccine skeptics, fringe academics, and a Trump-appointee were behind it.

The report also recommends regulators, namely the province’s medical licensing body, be stripped of powers to discipline doctors who promote risky and ineffective off-label treatments.

The report has garnered nationwide criticism from the scientific and medical communities, with dozens of experts calling on the government to officially dismiss the report in an open letter. Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the report was “an unfortunate use of public dollars” that funneled CAD$2,000,000 into furthering misinformation. She said it will cause harm globally, as it will be referenced in jurisdictions outside of Canada.

Premier Danielle Smith, who commissioned the report, has a fraught history with medical misinformation. In 2020, two years before becoming leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), Smith tweeted about a debunked study, saying it showed that hydroxychloroquine cured “100% of coronavirus patients within six days of treatment.” She soon apologized and deleted the tweet.

While still a talk-radio host in 2021, Smith raised over CAD$100,000 through a gofundme page to mount a legal action that, if successful, would have let Alberta doctors freely prescribe hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID. It’s unclear what the outcome was, or what happened to the money she raised.

Since 2020, Canada’s federal government took charge of vaccine distribution under emergency pandemic measures, which recently expired. With COVID vaccine funding now in provincial hands, Alberta’s government won’t say whether shots will stay free for all residents.

13.1 per cent of Albertans have been vaccinated in the last 6 months.

The task force behind the report includes economist Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the National Institutes of Health and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration.

Bhattacharya’s links to dark money groups in the U.S. and abroad are well-documented.

Dr. Joe Vipond, co-chair of the Canadian Covid Society, said of the report’s link to the new administration, “The space between Trump and Danielle Smith is almost nonexistent,” and that much like Trump, Alberta’s government makes decisions based on ideology, not evidence.

Vipond also says the government plays to an ardently anti-vax voter-base, noting that Premier Smith’s UCP has hosted at least two anti-vax townhalls that were well-attended, including by its own politicians.

Dr. Gary Davidson was handpicked by Smith to chair the task force behind the report. “Any errors or omissions in this report are solely ours,” he wrote in the foreword.

Davidson accused the previous government in 2021 of implementing lockdown-type restrictions on false pretenses. Despite sharp criticism from regulators at the time, there are no disciplinary decisions noted on his medical college register. Davidson tried to become a candidate for the UCP in 2019 and is set to speak at an upcoming party event.

The group behind the report includes:

- A doctor who sued Alberta Health Services over vaccine mandates.
- A UCP candidate who lost an election bid in 2023.
- A veterinary virologist who sued the University of Guelph in Ontario, alleging workplace harassment over his views on COVID vaccines. He dropped it after being met with two anti-SLAPP motions.
- A doctor who was fired for his comments on COVID vaccines and reinstated after an appeal.
- A vaccine-opposing virologist who is also a candidate for Canada’s far-right fringe party.

Mark Bell is listed as a contributor. His blurb characterizes him as an energy sector entrepreneur. Bell is an RV resort owner with no apparent qualifications to steer health policy. “Dr. Davidson has really summarized well the point of view of the report,” Bell said in a phone call. Asked about how he became involved with the task force and the nature of the work he did for it, Bell said “That’s a fair question,” but declined to comment further.

It isn’t known how much the government paid task force members for their time.

Task force member David Speicher, PhD, seen here on a video podcast using a lab-themed zoom background, is a candidate for the People’s Party of Canada.

Dr. John Conly, a former advisor to the WHO, was listed among the report’s authors—initially.

Conly drew criticism from experts in 2021 when he enthusiastically denied aerosol transmission as a primary route of spread for COVID, and claimed N95 face masks were harmful. He is a senior author on many research articles which have been used to argue against using masks in healthcare settings. His influence at the WHO in 2020 and 2021 was consequential in shaping pandemic policies worldwide.

Conly publicly disavowed the report’s findings this week and demanded his name be removed. The Alberta government took him off the list of contributors the next day and has since re-uploaded the report.

Six of the remaining 12 contributors have confirmed their participation since the report’s release.

A final contributor, Dr. Kevin Bardosh, is the director of Collateral Global, a UK-based charity with known funding ties to billionaires and anti-lockdown advocates, and links to multiple anti-vax groups. Collateral is “dedicated to researching, understanding, and communicating the effectiveness and collateral impacts” of measures taken to mitigate the pandemic in its first years, per a statement on its website.

Positioned as detached, methodologically rigorous expertise, the research and media commentaries from Collateral affiliates have been used as advocacy tools to steer governments and institutions away from adopting science-backed infection control policies.

Collateral Global showcases its earned media on its website.

The organization struck a Canadian working group early last year, which another report author, David Vickers, is on.

Last August elected UCP member Eric Bouchard said “the wheels are in motion” for the removal of COVID vaccines in Alberta. Bouchard quickly walked back his comments, and a swift denial of any such plan was issued by Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s Minister of Health.

On Friday Smith’s government posted its report, which it says it has been reviewing since August. But the wheels may already be in motion—for vaccine restrictions, regulatory rollbacks, and an accelerated shift away from evidence-based health policy.

CORRECTION 2/3/25: This article originally said “five of the remaining 12 contributors have confirmed their participation since the report’s release.” The number is six.