Witness Testimony

Dr. Heather Church testified that she was a university professor teaching a course on pandemics and society and had completed doctoral research on health equity impacts of public policy. She stated that although she had a prior mild traumatic brain injury and family history of neurodegenerative disease, she was denied both religious and medical exemptions from her university’s vaccine mandate. She testified that her physician declined to review supporting literature and told her that exemptions were limited to specific conditions such as anaphylaxis, myocarditis, or pericarditis. She ultimately complied with the mandate against her will in order to maintain employment.
Following vaccination, Church testified that she developed neurological symptoms including impaired auditory processing, memory deficits, fine motor coordination issues, chronic headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, and fatigue. She also described cardiac symptoms later diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), as well as a neurologist-confirmed diagnosis of distal chronic-acquired demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy obtained in the United States after long Canadian wait times. She stated that these impairments began the day after vaccination and have left her unable to work full-time, resulting in transition from short-term to long-term disability status.
Church testified that her long-term disability claim was denied on the basis that her limitations did not prevent 60 percent of her workload, and that workplace injury recognition requires Canadian confirmation of diagnosis and causation. She stated she has initiated an adverse event reporting process but requires further documentation before submission can be completed. She also raised concerns about informed consent at the pharmacy, stating she received only a brief provincial information sheet, was not provided manufacturer documentation, and later filed privacy complaints after receiving unsolicited digital communications from the pharmacy.