Over a four-day period in Ottawa this week, Conservative MP Dean Allison conducted independent hearings on COVID-19 vaccine injuries. The Allison Inquiry featured testimony from 50 witnesses selected from a pool of over 1,400 applicants. Majority of the witnesses were Canadians who traveled to Parliament Hill from various parts of the country to share their personal accounts of vaccine-related injuries.
The inquiry, as per its mandate, was designed to provide a platform for Canadians to share their experiences without making definitive conclusions or factual determinations. Notably, Health Canada did not participate in the inquiry, which was not officially sanctioned by the federal government.
Dean Allison, the Member of Parliament for Niagara West, emphasized that the inquiry aimed to initiate discussions that should have commenced earlier. He stressed the importance of compassion in all discussions surrounding COVID-19, vaccines, and public health policies.
During the hearings, one of the witnesses, Drue Taylor, a 36-year-old massage therapist from Alberta, spoke virtually about her struggles with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) following vaccination. Taylor expressed frustration with the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP), stating that her experience with the program’s appeal process had been lengthy and challenging.
The VISP, administered by Health Canada, received 3,557 claims and disbursed over $21 million to claimants between June 2021 and November 2025. Out of the 1,433 claims reviewed by the Medical Review Board, 252 were approved, requiring claimants to have suffered serious or permanent injuries due to a Health Canada-approved vaccine.
In response to criticisms regarding the program’s administration, the federal government assumed control in 2026, transitioning from the third-party administrator to the current Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP).
Apart from personal testimonies, the inquiry also featured U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, who utilized his appearance to criticize Dr. Anthony Fauci and question the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The debate over the virus’s source remains a contentious issue within the scientific community.
Dean Allison highlighted that the independent inquiry was the first of its kind in Canada, filling a gap where no government-sanctioned investigation into COVID-19 vaccine injuries had been conducted. The inquiry’s website noted that numerous democratic nations had initiated similar COVID-19 inquiries, scrutinizing various aspects of pandemic responses.
Medical experts have advocated for a comprehensive national inquiry into Canada’s pandemic management, a call echoed by public-led initiatives such as the National Citizens Inquiry into Canada’s COVID-19 Response in 2023. However, to date, no government-led inquiry has been established.
In a recent interview, Canada’s chief science advisor, Mona Nemer, emphasized the need for the federal government to evaluate its pandemic response to enhance preparedness for future health crises. Health Canada reported that between December 2020 and December 2023, 105 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Canada, with 58,712 adverse event reports and 11,702 serious events recorded during that period.